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BUSINESS 
ADMINISTRATION 


ITS  MODELS  IN  WAR,  STATECRAFT, 
AND  SCIENCE 


BY 

EDW.  D.  JONES 


NEW  YORK 

THE  ENGINEERING  MAGAZINE  CO. 

1914 


r' 


Copyright,  1913 
By  The  Engineering  Magazine  Co. 

Copyright,  1914 
By  The  Engineering  Magazine  Co. 


Press  of 

J.  J.  Little  A  Ives  Co. 

New  York 


INTRODUCTION 

Confident  that  administration  of  manufacturing 
and  operating  companies  under  modern  conditions  is 
developing  into  a  new  profession,  Professor  Jones 
has  sought  its  scientific  principles  by  a  remarkable 
study  of  the  older  professions  with  which  it  is  most 
closely  allied.    His  argument  is,  briefly: 

First — That  success  in  dealing  with  men  and 
affairs  depends  upon  certain  basic  propositions  and 
laws  which  can  be  discovered  by  studying  the  work 
of  successful  administrators; 

Second — That  the  rules  and  methods  followed  by 
masters  of  business  and  finance  are  usually  deliber- 
ately hidden,  and  there  are  no  records  throwing 
clear,  full  light  on  their  lives  and  acts; 

Third — That  leaders  in  statecraft,  war,  and  science, 
on  the  contrary,  are  figures  of  world  interest  whose 
careers  and  practice  are  illuminated  fully  and  search- 
ingly  by  public  and  private  records,  correspondence, 
personal  reminiscences,  and  even  petty  gossip.  From 
such  data  Professor  Jones  has  analyzed  definite  pri- 
mary principles  of  administration.  In  history  and 
the  biographies  of  military  conquerors,  diplomats, 
and  scientists,  he  finds  the  elementary  rules  of 
success. 

Close  systematic  study  of  scientific  management 
has  expended  its  first  force  on  machines  and  proc- 
esses. For  its  larger  successes  administration  must 
work  as  great  generals  and  statesmen  have  worked 
iii 


IV  INTRODUCTION 

— with  the  human  factor.  It  must  work  as  great 
scientists  have  worked — with  universal  laws.  Pro- 
fessor Jones  advances  no  narrow  specialized  system, 
but  searches  the  best  thought  of  the  world  to  bring 
its  choicest  fruit  to  the  service  of  thinking  workers 
in  modern  industry. 

This  attitude  toward  and  this  treatment  of  the 
subject  indeed  raise  administration  to  the  high  plane 
of  the  professions  among  which  Professor  Jones  con- 
tends it  must  be  classed.  And  beyond  this,  the  book 
now  completed  (the  outgrowth  of  a  much  shorter 
study  originally  published  serially  in  the  pages  of 
The  Engineering  Magazine)  proves  that  industrial 
philosophy  and  practical  doctrine  may  be  set  forth 
in  English  so  luminous,  by  logic  so  triumphant,  and 
with  inspiration  so  uplifting,  that  they  win  the  right 
to  a  place  in  pure  literature  and  show  that  letters 
may  be  made  a  co-worker  with  science  to  the  lasting 
advantage  of  mankind. 

Charles  Buxton  Going. 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  I.    The  Rise  of  a  New  Profession  pAaa 

An  introductory  explanation  showing  the  facts 
and  relations  that  rank  business  administration 
with  the  higher  civil  and  military  professions  of 
the  historic  period.  1 

THE  ADMINISTRATOR   AS   GENERAL 
Chapter  II.    The  Utility  of  the  Study  of  History 

Organization  older  than  history — Evolution  of 
administration  traced  through  the  family,  the 
clan  and  the  state — The  wealth  of  accumulated 
experience — Possibilities  of  drawing  on  this  store 
by  analytical  study — The  methods  which  such 
study  must  follow — Dearth  of  direct  records  of 
business  administration — Abundance  of  material 
in  military  and  political  fields — Relationship  be- 
tween military  and  commercial  leadership — How 
the  methods  of  a  conqueror  may  by  analogy  fur- 
nish a  model  for  the  business  executive. 27 

Chapter  III.    Military  History 

The  great  periods  of  militarism  and  their 
ideals — Roman  remains — The  Byzantine  Empire 
— The  Middle  Ages — Frederick  the  Great — Na- 
poleon— Modern   conditions.    43 

Chapter  IV.    Administrative  Principles 

An  enumeration  of  the  qualities  discovered  in 
the  foregoing  studies — Decision — Initiative — Pre- 
liminary planning — Subordination  of  detail — Dis- 
cipline— Concentration  to  secure  success. 61 


VI  CONTENTS 

THE  ADMINISTRATOR  AS  SCIENTIST       PAOB 

Chapter  V.    The  Pioneers  of  Science 

Administration  as  thinking — The  problem  of 
origins — The  science  of  Greece — The  Alexandrine 
Era — The  Renaissance — The  pioneers  of  science 
— Requisites  of  creative  thinking. 77 

Chapter  VI.     System-Makers  of  Science 

How  one  science  contributes  to  all  others — 
Leaders  in  scientific  theory — Exploded  theories 
— Theories  in  practical  affairs. 103 

Chapter  VII.    The  Application  of  Science 

The  union  of  pure  and  applied  science — Diffi- 
culties of  applied  science — Theory  versus  prac- 
tice— Science  as  a  phase  of  vital  living. 119 

Chapter  VIII.    The  Principles  of  Mental  Effi- 
ciency 

Economy  of  means — The  wide  range  of  the 
practical — Follow  the  lead  of  the  subject-mat- 
ter— Open-in indedness — Explanations  of  fallacies 
reveal  new  laws — Thoroughness — Methods  more 
valuable  than  results.  131 

Chapter    IX.    The    Principles    of    Mental    Effi- 
ciency (Continued) 

The  fertility  of  a  new  point  of  view — Unity 
of  principles  in  variety  of  form — Co-operation — 
Persistent  thinking  as  the  universal  solvent — 
Intellectual  courage. 157 

THE  ADMINISTRATOR  AS  DIPLOMAT 

Chapter  X.    History  of  the  Gentleman  Adminis- 
trator 

Administration  and  human  nature — History  of 
ideal  types — The  pagan  hero — Pagan  and  Chris- 
tian elements  of  chivalry — Results  of  chivalry — 
The  courtier — The  gentleman — Present  need  of 
leadership — The  captain  of  industry. 179 


CONTENTS  Vll 

PAOB 

Chapter    XI.    The    Methods   of   the    Gentleman 
Administrator 

The  study  of  human  nature — Elements  of  effi- 
ciency— Due  form — Courtesy — Compromise — Just 
proportion.    213 

Chapter  XII.    The  Ideals  of  the  Gentleman  Ad- 
ministrator 

The  evils  of  separating  one  department  of  life 
from  another — Industry  and  order — An  adminis- 
trative creed — Conclusion.   237 


BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 
A  NEW   PROFESSION 

Chapter   I 

THE  RISE   OF  A   NEW   PROFESSION 

TF  we  consider  the  industrial  history  of  the 
•*■  United  States,  for  the  span  of  a  long  gen- 
eration, dating  backwards  from  this  year  of 
grace  to  about  1840,  we  can  distinguish  at 
least  three  great  movements  which  have  occu- 
pied the  minds  of  men  in  industry. 

THE  AGE  OF  THE  PIONEER 

The  first  period  was  still  engaged  in  the 
process  of  settling  the  country,  as  previous 
decades  had  been.  In  section  after  section  of 
the  newly-open  West  there  was  required  that 
basic  equipment  which  is  the  foundation  of 
modern  civilized  life. 

In  1840  Boston  was  not  yet  connected  with 
Albany  by  rail,  nor  Albany  with  Buffalo. 
1 


&••«'•  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

The  grain  elevator  had  not  yet  been  devised ; 
and  coke  ovens  did  not  yet  exist  in  the  Con- 
nellsville  region.  The  first  steamboat  had 
just  been  seen  at  the  Soo ;  and  in  Iowa  they 
were  plowing  a  furrow  from  the  Mississippi 
river  westward  for  one  hundred  miles,  to 
guide  the  settlers.  A  few  pioneers  were  be- 
ginning to  pass  over  the  Oregon  trail;  and 
Fremont  was  describing  Utah  in  the  papers. 
It  was  not  until  1845  that  copper  was  pro- 
duced in  Upper  Michigan.  It  was  only  in 
1852  that  Chicago  was  connected  with  the 
East  by  railway.  The  locomotive  did  not 
reach  the  Missouri  river  until  1859,  nor  the 
Pacific  coast  until  ten  years  later. 

The  mention  of  the  pioneers  calls  for  a 
word  of  tribute.  Our  nation's  first  industrial 
task  was  the  stupendous  one  of  clearing  the 
farms,  and  of  building  the  common  roads, 
and  of  establishing  villages  and  cities,  and  of 
opening  outlets  for  the  marketing  of  surplus 
products.  Perhaps,  indeed,  the  history  of  the 
pioneer  is  but  "the  short  and  simple  annals 
of  the  poor/'  Carlyle  dismissed  America 
with  the  contemptuous  summary,  "Hitherto 
She  but  plows  and  hammers.' '  To  the  set- 
tlers, plowing  and  hammering  was  the  first 
necessity.    But  to  the  civilization  of  the  en- 


RISE  OF   A  NEW   PROFESSION  3 

tire  world  the  prompt  and  thorough  occupa- 
tion of  the  fairest  portion  of  the  American 
continent  by  a  superior  race,  with  European 
culture,  was  an  achievement  of  the  first  im- 
portance. Nor  was  this  work  of  the  settler 
like  the  hopeless  toil  of  the  English  agricul- 
tural laborer,  or  the  cramped  grind  of  the 
manufacturing  towns  of  Scotland,  with  which 
Carlyle  was  familiar.  The  pioneers  partook 
somewhat  of  the  nature  of  the  explorers. 
Their  advance  westward  had  much  of  the 
stirring  quality  of  a  military  reconnaissance 
directed  against  the  hostile  forces  of  Nature 
entrenched  in  the  wilderness.  The  victory 
was  not  to  mere  parsimony  and  patience,  and 
the  weaker  economic  virtues,  but  to  industry 
animated  with  boldness,  planning  touched 
with  imagination,  and  sacrifice  sustained  by 
a  vision  of  a  new  State  and  a  fairer  civiliza- 
tion. The  pioneers  were  rugged  self-reliant 
men  and  busy  contented  women.  Into  the  en- 
joyment of  the  fruits  of  their  labors  we  have 
all  of  us  entered. 

THE  AGE  OF   MECHANISM 

The  second  industrial  movement,  of  the  pe- 
riod we  are  considering,  centered  upon  the 
task  of  providing  an  adequate  mechanical 


4  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

equipment.  Its  characteristic  achievement 
was  to  develop  inanimate  sources  of  power, 
and  apply  them  in  a  thousand  new  ways  to 
lift  the  burden  of  physical  toil  from  human 
shoulders. 

Accordingly,  the  second  act  transfers  the 
scene  of  chief  significance  from  the  field  to 
the  factory.  The  first  billet  of  Bessemer 
steel  was  produced  in  America  in  a  little 
furnace  at  Wyandotte,  near  Detroit,  in  1864. 
The  first  band-saw  was  brought  from  Paris 
to  New  York  in  1869.  The  first  middlings 
purifier,  essential  to  the  modern  milling  proc- 
ess, was  built  in  Minneapolis  in  1870.  The 
twine-binder  was  invented  in  1874.  In  the 
wonderful  Centennial  Year  of  1876,  there  was 
given  to  the  country  the  telephone,  the  in- 
candescent light,  the  typewriter,  and  the  first 
steel-frame  building.  In  the  middle  years  of 
the  seventies  the  hermetical  sealing  and  the 
refrigeration  of  fruits  and  meats  was 
achieved,  so  that  a  great  additional  range 
was  possible  for  the  dietary  of  the  nation. 

Since  those  years,  the  American  farmer 
has  come  into  the  possession  of  a  well-nigh 
perfect  equipment  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments. Our  factories  have  been  filled  with 
machinery,  our  offices  with  appliances,  and 


RISE   OF   A   NEW   PROFESSION  5 

our  stores  with  furnishings,  until  it  is  gener- 
ally conceded  that  no  people  of  the  world  ex- 
cel the  Americans  in  the  use  of  mechanical 
facilities. 

THE   AGE   OF   ADMINISTRATION 

And  now  that  these  achievements  are  no 
longer  in  their  origins,  and  that  the  issues 
called  up  by  them  are  recognized  as  virtually 
settled,  and  as  there  is  no  longer  any  threat- 
ening opposition  to  try  men's  souls  in  the 
process  of  establishing  and  defending  them, 
a  third  great  industrial  problem  can  be  seen 
to  emerge  and  become  the  center  of  interest. 
This  is  the  question  of  business  administra- 
tion. 

Upon  this  generation  is  laid  the  task  of 
discovering,  testing,  and  establishing  in  gen- 
eral use,  those  methods  of  organization  and 
management  by  which  the  great  productive 
agencies  now  within  the  possession  of  indus- 
try can  be  united,  subjected  to  proper  con- 
trol, stimulated,  guided,  inspected,  instructed, 
and  rewarded,  to  the  end  that  they  may  serve 
society  with  efficiency.  In  short,  the  domi- 
nant problem  now  is  one  of  originating  and 
formulating  a  science  of  administration, 
which  shall  comprise  those  basic  principles 


6  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

and  practical  policies  required  for  the  guid- 
ance of  great  affairs. 

SELF-MADE    MEN 

This  administrative  phase  of  our  industrial 
evolution  has,  of  course,  already  a  history  of 
value ;  and  this  history  is  concerned  with  the 
doings  of  a  very  interesting  generation  of 
men.  For  years  the  United  States,  with  its 
enormous  domestic  market,  its  ample  capital, 
its  freedom  from  tradition,  and  its  colossal 
daring,  has  been  perhaps  the  most  favorable 
spot  in  the  world  for  trying  out  new  ideas  of 
organization  and  management. 

The  executives  who  first  took  advantage  of 
these  conditions  were,  for  the  most  part,  self- 
made  men.  We  often  refer  to  the  more  noted 
of  them  as  Captains  of  Industry.  The  ma- 
jority were  individuals  of  pronounced  motor 
temperament,  and  endowed  with  exceptional 
talents;  men  capable  of  fighting  their  way 
upward  and  of  gaining  the  advantage  in  a 
rough-and-ready  struggle  for  the  survival  of 
the  fittest. 

These  men  seized  leadership  by  right  of 
ability  but,  technically  speaking,  they  se- 
cured it  as  the  perquisite  or  privilege  arising 
from  the  ownership  of  great  fortunes.   They 


RISE   OF    A    NEW    PROFESSION  7 

lived  in  a  day  when  men  generally  managed 
their  own  capital.  In  many  cases  they  were 
the  first  to  build  np  institutions  of  great  size 
in  the  lines  of  industry  with  which  they  were 
connected.  These  circumstances  involve  the 
point  that,  had  not  these  men  accumulated 
private  fortunes,  they  could  not,  individually, 
have  become  conspicuous  as  administrators. 
The  price  of  their  economic  power  was  to 
make  their  activities  bend  to  the  getting  of 
money.  In  other  words,  they  had  to  create 
the  kingdoms  over  which  they  later  ruled. 

Their  policies  were  like  those  of  most  con- 
querors; direct,  simple,  and  intensely  per- 
sonal. Living  in  a  highly  individualistic  and 
self-confident  society,  they  worked  out  rules 
of  action,  each  man  for  himself.  As  the  at- 
tention of  a  new  community  naturally  centers 
strongly  upon  the  process  of  growth,  many  of 
them  were  builders  rather  than  administra- 
tors; more  comfortable  with  tests  of  excel- 
lence which  were  physical  rather  than  intel- 
lectual, private  rather  than  social.  As  their 
communities  had  broken  sharply  with  Euro- 
pean traditions,  and  had  as  yet  little  appli- 
cable history  of  their  own,  they  entertained 
a  poor  opinion  of  lessons  drawn  from  the 
past.    As  they  were  devoted  to  little  else  than 


8  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

industry,  they  saw  few  analogies  between  the 
administration  of  business  affairs  and  the 
administration  of  other  forms  of  social  ac- 
tion. 

Being  so  much  in  a  world  of  their  own 
creation,  they  looked  upon  the  administration 
of  industrial  enterprises  purely  as  a  process 
of  each  man  minding  his  own  business.  Their 
organizations  were,  therefore,  mere  exten- 
sions of  themselves,  usually  bearing  their 
names,  and  ruled  as  -their  households  might 
be.  Enterprises  so  conceived  were  incapable 
of  serving  as  a  rallying  point  for  the  loyalty 
of  the  various  classes  of  persons  who  might 
become  connected  with  them.  The  owner 
alone  was  fully  energized.  He  carried  stag- 
gering loads  of  responsibility,  driving  affairs 
forward  by  individual  energy  rather  than  by 
the  true  administrative  process  of  evoking 
and  guiding  the  energies  of  others. 

Whatever  reservations  have  to  be  made  in 
praise,  the  courage  and  independence  of  these 
men  must  be  recognized  as  splendid.  They 
possessed  a  thorough  mastery  of  details,  as  a 
result  of  the  small  beginnings  from  which 
they  started.  They  had  the  ease  and  speed 
of  decision  due  to  technical  mastery,  and 
early   imposed    responsibility.     They   were 


RISE   OF    A    NEW    PROFESSION  9 

preserved  from  errors  of  theory  by  a  whole- 
some and  intimate  sense  of  reality.  The 
names  of  the  leaders  of  this  generation  of 
giants  will  long  remain  household  words  in 
America. 

The  era  of  the  Captains  of  Industry  has 
been  thus  far  marked  by  the  lack  of  a  suffi- 
ciently clear  distinction  between  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  process  of  amassing  a  fortune, 
and  the  requirements  of  the  principles  of  the 
true  art  of  administration.  We  are  so  ac- 
customed to  measure  mastership  in  industry 
by  the  tangible  property  which  happens  to 
remain  in  the  hands  of  the  executive,  that  it 
is  difficult  to  perceive  that  there  can  be  any 
such  thing  as  an  impersonal  social  standard, 
set  by  the  intelligence  of  the  age,  and  taking 
into  account  all  the  social  costs  and  utilities 
associated  with  a  man's  actions. 

If  we  turn  to  politics,  we  can  see  clearly 
enough  that  a  man's  record  for  efficiency,  as 
the  mayor  of  a  city,  does  not  depend  upon 
his  getting  rich  in  office.  Neither  do  we  mea- 
sure the  skill  of  our  military  leaders  by  their 
strategy  in  gathering  private  booty,  nor  the 
capacity  of  our  statesmen  by  the  architecture 
of  their  private  fortunes.  In  these  cases  we 
recognize  the  existence  of  an  art  or  polity, 


10  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

and  we  are  able  to  judge  the  quality  of  the 
action  itself,  regardless  of  the  personal  re- 
ward which  may  have  been  received  by  the 
individual  for  his  action. 

This  method  of  judging  is  now  being  intro- 
duced into  industry,  and  it  is  bringing  into 
view  a  new  world  of  possible  efficiencies. 
That  we  have  not  more  generally  used  such 
a  test,  hitherto,  is  one  of  the  reasons  why 
broad  and  intellectually  respectable  princi- 
ples have  been  so  slow  in  gaining  control  of 
industrial  action;  and  why  it  has  been  so 
difficult  to  detect  the  really  capable  adminis- 
trators among  the  crowd  of  men  who  are 
merely,  and  perhaps  even  accidentally,  rich. 

NEW  CONDITIONS 

Since  the  ranks  of  the  first  generation  of 
administrators  have  begun  to  be  seriously 
thinned  by  death,  a  notable  change  has  been 
taking  place  in  the  character  of  our  industrial 
leadership,  and  in  the  conditions  under  which 
it  is  exercised.  The  growth  of  business  into 
units  embracing,  under  a  single  administra- 
tion, hundreds  and  even  thousands  of  stock- 
holders and  employees,  and  uniting  many 
minds  in  operations  which  require  long  peri- 
ods of  time  for  their  completion,  call  for 


RISE   OF    A   NEW    PROFESSION  11 

searching  tests  of  performance,  and  exact 
and  just  methods  of  apportioning  rewards, 
so  that  the  wills  of  many  persons  can  be 
brought  into  energetic  concurrence. 

The  use  of  the  corporate  form  of  organi- 
zation, by  which  the  business  unit  is  made 
the  dependent  creature  of  the  State,  coupled 
with  the  increasing  sensitiveness  of  public 
opinion  to  the  probity  of  the  financing  plans, 
and  the  humanity  of  the  operative  policies 
employed,  unite  to  require  a  more  skilful 
diplomacy,  and  methods  which  will  bear  pub- 
lic inspection. 

These  changes  are  transforming  the  busi- 
ness administrator  from  a  mere  owner  of 
private  property  into  a  responsible  agent,  ex- 
ercising delegated  authority.  They  increase 
the  element  of  trust  or  responsibility  or  serv- 
ice, for  the  measurement  and  valuation  of 
which  a  new  outfit  of  standards  is  urgently 
needed. 

ADMINISTRATIVE   HELPS 

There  are  various  helps  destined  to  play 
an  increasing  role  as  the  handmaids  of  the 
new  administration.  In  the  first  place,  the 
physical  sciences  are  being  applied  in  indus- 
trial operations  in  a  new  way.     Formerly 


12  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

thought  of  as  the  source  of  mechanism  for 
supplementing  or  relieving  the  operative, 
they  are  now  the  source  of  agencies  for  sup- 
plementing and  relieving  the  executive  as 
well.  They  assist  in  the  testing  of  materials, 
the  refining  of  productive  processes,  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  operatives '  health,  the  sharp- 
ening of  technical  standards,  the  separate 
measurement  of  the  essential  elements  of 
performance,  and  the  provision  of  new  forces 
and  instrumentalities  generally. 

A  second  class  of  aids  includes  greatly  im- 
proved systems  of  accounting  and  cost  ac- 
counting, and  a  rapidly  developing  theory  of 
valuation,  which  concerns  itself  with  the  more 
subtle  and  immaterial  forms  of  property. 
These  are  the  administrator's  chief  instru- 
ments of  precision,  where  problems  of  value 
rather  than  problems  of  physical  processes 
or  of  human  nature  are  concerned. 

A  third  aid  is  the  swiftly  forming  science 
of  psychology  which  now  enters,  supplement- 
ing experience,  dissolving  the  ancient  antag- 
onism between  humanity  and  efficiency,  and 
making  it  possible  for  industry  to  respond 
intelligently,  and  even  profitably,  to  the  de- 
mands of  a  more  enlightened  public  con- 
science. 


RISE   OF   A  NEW   PROFESSION  13 

A  fourth  aid  is  what  is  commonly  called 
"system":  a  somewhat  indefinite  mass  of 
rules  of  procedure,  together  with  appropriate 
equipments,  relating  particularly  to  office 
work,  and  representing  the  accumulated  ex- 
perience of  innumerable  official  minds. 

The  first  tentative  synthesis  of  these  vari- 
ous hilfeswissenschaften  into  a  code  of  rules 
for  the  business  executive  is  involved  in  the 
movement  known  as  "scientific  manage- 
ment. ' '  This  manifestation  of  a  new  order  of 
accurate  and  systematic  thinking  in  industry, 
so  significant  of  the  times,  took  its  rise  as  a 
philosophy  of  the  shop,  but  has  culminated 
in  the  enunciation  of  a  group  of  principles 
constituting  an  encouraging  earnest  of  a 
forthcoming  more  fully  developed  science  of 
administration. 

THE  PROFESSIONAL  ADMINISTRATOR 

The  large  individual  enterprises  now  re- 
quired to  meet  society's  need  must  work  with 
the  money  of  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of 
investors,  so  that  individual  or  family  dom 
ination,  resting  upon  ownership,  must  decline 
as  a  system.  Between  the  multitude  of  stock- 
and  bond-holders  constituting  the  proprie- 
tors, on  the  one  side,  and  the  still  greater 


14  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

multitude  of  employees,  on  the  other,  there  is 
being  created  a  central  strategic  position  to 
be  occupied  by  the  professional  adminis- 
trator. 

The  occupant  of  this  position  will  be  the 
central  pivot  upon  which  a  vast  number  of 
human  relationships  will  turn.  Upon  these 
men  will  rest  a  sort  of  trusteeship  to  pre- 
serve the  property  intrusted  to  them,  and  a 
demand  of  leadership  to  guide  and  guard 
their  employees.  Upon  them  will  also  rest  a 
general  responsibility  to  the  public  to  help 
this  day  to  live  its  life,  and  this  generation  to 
make  its  contribution  to  progress.  The  whole 
situation  conspires  to  create  an  opportunity 
for  a  new  race  of  executives,  which  shall 
justly  appreciate  the  various  classes  of  re- 
sponsibility resting  upon  it. 

Wanted,  therefore,  a  body  of  leaders  for 
industry,  who  shall  unite  with  native  talent, 
trained  and  liberal  minds:  men  who  believe 
that  the  sea  of  affairs  can  be  charted,  and 
can  be  sailed  by  the  aid  of  permanent  worthy 
principles  and  a  fine  exact  technique  of  dip- 
lomatic and  humane  methods,  and  who  shall 
be  as  zealous  for  the  ennoblement  of  their 
art  as  they  are  active  for  their  own  advance- 
ment. 


RISE  OF   A  NEW   PROFESSION  15 

TRANSITIONAL  DIFFICULTIES 

The  new  order  always  evolves  out  of  the 
old  with  pain  and  misunderstanding.  The 
new  is  long  looked  upon  from  the  inadequate 
viewpoint  of  the  old.  The  exigencies  of  the 
new  situation  are  always  upon  us  before  the 
teachings  of  the  old  have  been  sufficiently  de- 
liberated upon  to  yield  a  reliable  philosophy 
of  action. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  this  generation 
should  be  embarrassed,  in  the  task  of  finding 
new  maxims  and  ideals  appropriate  to  its  new 
conditions,  while  it  is  yet  blinded  by  the  bril- 
liant achievements  of  the  age  of  the  Captains 
of  Industry.  The  shadow  of  the  great  foun- 
der still  falls  upon  the  present-day  executive 
in  many  forms.  In  one  case  it  is  a  collection 
of  conceptions  and  tests,  once  considered  ade- 
quate, and  a  tradition  of  methods  exalted  by 
the  prestige  of  many  successes.  In  another, 
it  is  an  incompetent  heir,  invested  with  an  es- 
tate, and  the  glamor  of  a  prominent  name, 
and  set,  as  an  amateur,  to  rule  over  experts. 
Again,  the  shadow  of  the  departing  order 
takes  the  form  of  a  vast  enterprise  which 
was,  perhaps,  originally  builded  with  enthu- 
siasm and  many  hopes  to  great  size  and 
power,  but  which  is  now  a  hollow  shell  con- 


16  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

taining  many  a  sheltered  nook  within,  where 
weak  men  may  vegetate  as  clerks,  perpetually 
shirking  responsibility  by  referring  matters 
from  one  to  another  in  an  endless  round  of 
red  tape,  or  where  strong  men  are  lulled  by 
a  sense  of  security  to  relax  effort  and  trust 
to  the  defense  of  "the  impulse  of  an  early 
start,"  or  to  "interlocking  directorates,"  or 
"banking  control,"  or  "dominating  influ- 
ence in  the  trade, ' '  or  the  repulsive  tactics  of 
"predatory  competition,"  or  to  anything  else 
than  service. 

Perhaps  the  chief  hindrance  to  the  develop- 
ment of  administration  in  American  industry, 
in  the  next  few  years,  will  prove  to  be  what 
we  may  call  the  danger  of  the  intrenched  po- 
sition. The  significance  of  this  danger  was 
long  ago  pointed  out  by  Machiavelli,  who 
warned  his  ideal  prince  of  the  harm  wrought 
by  strong  fortresses.  His  words,  written 
about  1513,  still  represent  human  nature,  and 
are  full  of  significance.    He  said, 

Whenever  either  princes  or  republics  are  afraid  lest 
their  subjects  should  revolt,  it  results  mainly  from  the 
hatred  of  the  subjects  on  account  of  the  bad  treatment 
experienced  from  those  who  govern  them;  and  this  comes 
either  from  the  belief  that  they  can  best  be  controlled  by 
force,  or  from  lack  of  sound  judgment  in  governing  them. 
And   one   of   the  things   that   induce  the  belief    that   they 


RISE   OF   A   NEW    PROFESSION 


lfV 


can  be  controlled  by  force  is  the  possession  of  fortresses 
with  which  to  menace  them;  and  thus  the  ill  treatment 
that  engenders  hatred  in  the  subjects  arises  in  great 
measure  from  the  fact  that  the  prince  or  republic  hold  the 
fortresses  which  (if  this  be  true)  are  therefore  by  far 
more  injurious  than  useful.  For,  in  the  first  instance,  they 
cause  you  to  be  more  violent  and  audacious  towards  your 
subjects;  and  next,  they  do  not  afford  the  security  which 
you  imagine. 

And  further  he  says : 

A  good  and  wise  prince,  desirous  of  maintaining  that 
character,  and  to  avoid  giving  the  opportunity  to  his  sons 
to  become  oppressive,  will  never  build  fortresses,  so  that 
they  may  place  their  reliance  upon  the  good  will  of  their 
subjects,  and  not  upon  the  strength  of  citadels." 

\/  THE  FUTURE  SUPPLY 

In  this  day  of  large  and  permanent  under- 
takings industry  cannot  afford  the  risk  of 
administrators  who,  being  ignorant  of  princi- 
ples, must  govern  by  extempore  decrees.  Nor 
can  it  endure  to  educate  those  who  will  be- 
come wise  only  through  the  experience  of 
disasters.  Society  is  no  longer  satisfied  to 
prepare  its  physicians  and  lawyers  and  engi- 
neers by  an  unregulated  process  of  learning 
through  experience.  If  administration  is  an 
intellectual  pursuit,  it  is  not  sufficient  to  trust 
to  such  processes  for  administrators. 

Furthermore,    business    experiences    now 


18  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

less  than  formerly  offer  themselves  as  an 
educational  ladder,  apt  for  the  upward  climb- 
ing of  the  growing  mind.  It  is  only  in  the 
world  of  small  independent  businesses  that 
responsibility  increases  gradually  and  pari 
passu  with  ability.  The  typical  captain  of 
industry,  of  the  recent  past,  advanced  step  by 
step.  As  his  powers  of  mind  and  experience 
grew,  his  business  increased.  His  responsi- 
bilities were  enlarged  by  almost  impercepti- 
ble increments.  In  the  end  he  emerged,  as  a 
scholar  might  finish  in  a  carefully  graded 
school,  having  passed  through  a  finely  gradu- 
ated scale  of  functions,  extending  from  the 
simplest  to  the  most  difficult  things.  Busi- 
ness experience  less  and  less  offers  this  en- 
couraging educational  aspect  of  a  series  of 
functions  in  which  each  performance  pre- 
pares for  the  next.  Superior  minds  are  as 
much  wanted  as  ever,  but  they  are  wanted  al- 
ready grounded  in  those  general  principles 
which  the  last  generation  of  leaders  distilled 
only  from  a  prolonged  experience.  Young 
men  must  now  expect  to  enter  some  depart- 
ment of  an  organization  which  is  already 
large,  and  expect  to  remain  for  long  periods 
engaged  in  highly  specialized  functions.  Such 
upward  advances  as  they  make  are  likely  to 


RISE   OF   A   NEW   PROFESSION  19 

be  by  sudden  leaps  to  new  responsibilities, 
which  test  their  latent  talents  to  the  utmost. 
Conditions  of  this  order  can  best  be  mastered 
by  those  who  first  of  all,  by  systematic  pre- 
liminary study,  attain  a  firm  grasp  upon 
basic  administrative  policies,  and  who  then 
use  practical  experience  to  instruct  them  in 
the  niceties  of  particular  applications. 

The  late  Mr.  Dill  once  said  that  he  could 
secure  a  million  dollars  ten  times  while  he 
was  finding  a  man  with  the  capacity  to  ad- 
minister the  affairs  representing  a  million 
dollars  at  work.  One  of  the  reasons  which 
has  been  assigned  for  the  excessive  concen- 
tration of  administrative  control  in  Ameri- 
can business  is  the  small  number  of  reliable 
executives.  And  this  is  also,  doubtless,  one 
of  the  reasons  why  we  overload  good  men, 
and  wear  them  out  so  rapidly.  This  dearth 
of  administrators  is  not  a  dearth  of  bold  and 
energetic  men,  but  of  men  who  are  firmly 
grounded  in  general  principles. 

What  natural  processes  fail  to  supply  us 
must  be  produced  by  specific  agencies,  that  is 
to  say,  by  educational  agencies.  But  to  make 
education  effective,  knowledge  must  be  re- 
duced from  empirical  to  systematic  form,  by 
establishing,  in  the  world  of  the  intellect, 


20  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

those  principles  and  policies  which  are  to  be 
mastered,  so  that  training  may  form  the  mind 
of  the  executive  more  certainly,  more  rapidly, 
and  more  thoroughly  than  unregulated  expe- 
rience can  do. 

NEW  CONCEPTIONS 

Genius  in  leadership,  as  contrasted  with 
talent,  comes  not  in  response  to  comfortable 
helps,  nor  reliable  educational  agencies,  but 
is  awakened  in  unexpected  places  by  great 
issues.  It  comes,  as  if  in  response  to  a  call, 
whenever  new  ideals  take  strong  hold  upon 
men.  War  produces  capable  generals.  Intel- 
lectual conflict  breeds  seers  and  philosophers. 
Prophets  arise  to  preach  new  gospels.  It 
matters  little  that  there  are  difficulties. 
1 '  Truth, ' '  says  Nietzsche, ' '  does  not  find  few- 
est champions  when  it  is  dangerous  to  speak 
it,  but  when  it  is  dull. ' p  Industry  insists  upon 
efficiency,  but  efficiency  may  often  be  best  in- 
sured indirectly,  by  setting  forth  that  in  in- 
dustry which  is  inspiring,  and  which  will 
most  thoroughly  awaken  mind  and  heart. 

The  old  ambition  to  build  up  big  business 
units,  and  to  accumulate  great  fortunes,  is 
now  no  longer  so  fresh  and  full  of  zest  as  it 
once  was.    It  does  not  get  the  response,  and 


RISE   OF    A    NEW    PROFESSION  21 

call  out  the  best  men,  as  in  the  old  dramatic, 
careless,  buccaneering  days.  To  simply  re- 
peat what  the  last  generation  did  in  the  way 
of  piling  up  fortunes,  and  to  do  it  on  the 
same  intellectual  and  aesthetic  and  ethical 
plane,  but  without  the  novelty  of  being  the 
first  to  do  it,  nor  the  excuse  that  first  comes 
bread  and  then  the  higher  things  of  life,  and 
without  even  the  freedom  of  action  and  the 
general  applause  of  the  days  of  laissez  faire, 
is  not  to  set  forth  a  very  moving  aim.  The 
hungry  intelligence  of  industry  is  asking  for 
great  new  objectives  worthy  of  great  efforts. 
It  asks  for  tasks  as  noble  for  us  now  as  the 
opening  of  the  continent,  or  the  building  of 
the  railroads  were  for  a  past  generation.  A 
new  and  larger  conception  of  the  function  of 
industrial  leadership  is  called  for. 

The  great  resources  of  the  country,  sub- 
dued by  the  pioneers,  and  the  elaborate  equip- 
ment provided  by  the  engineers,  combine  to 
set  the  stage  for  a  high  statesmanship  and 
for  a  fine  diplomacy  to  begin  to  play  their 
role  in  industry.  Since  it  inherits  so  much 
physical  equipment,  the  new  generation  can 
be  less  material  in  its  aim,  and  give  itself 
more  largely  to  providing  an  intellectual 
equipment.    As  we  live  in  a  more  advanced 


22  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

stage  of  society,  the  thought  of  the  adminis- 
trator may  be  less  of  equipment  than  of  poli- 
cies governing  operations,  less  of  operations 
than  of  ultimate  ends,  less  of  his  own  part 
in  those  ends  than  of  the  harmony  of  the 
ends  themselves  with  the  constructive  tenden- 
cies and  aspirations  of  society.  What  is 
wanted  for  immediate  guidance  is  a  body  of 
broad,  permanent,  and  socially  beneficent 
principles  of  industrial  action,  to  which  supe- 
rior minds,  forming  an  aristocracy  in  indus- 
trial affairs,  may  swear  allegiance,  and  which 
they  may  carry  forth,  as  on  a  crusade,  to  es- 
tablish as  realities  in  the  world. 

The  administrator  who  is  willing  to  take 
part  in  this  movement  will  find  himself,  as 
were  his  ancestors,  upon  a  frontier,  with  the 
opportunity  opening  before  him,  as  it  did 
before  them,  to  become  a  pioneer.  The  fron- 
tier will  not  now  be  one  of  axe  and  plow,  nor 
of  engines  and  machinery,  but  of  principles 
and  policies,  and  ultimate  aims,  and  final 
tests. 

The  administrative  problems  awaiting  so- 
lution are  almost  innumerable.  The  execu- 
tive who  carries  the  scientific  method  into  his 
work  will  find  an  opportunity  to  make  more 
clear  the  conception  of  authority  and  respon- 


RISE  OF   A  NEW   PROFESSION  23 

sibility,  and  to  formulate  the  rules  of  their 
distribution.  He  will  study  the  co-ordination 
of  mutually  functioning  agencies,  and  the 
means  of  their  supervision.  He  will  find  need 
to  determine  more  precisely  the  basis  upon 
which  rests  the  division  of  labor  between  ad- 
ministration and  operation,  and  between 
principal  matters  and  details.  He  will  con- 
cern himself  with  the  meaning  and  use  of 
standards  and  sequences  and  schedules,  and 
will  attack  the  great  problem  of  framing  a 
theory  of  rewards  and  punishments  ade- 
quately adjusted  to  the  moral  sense  of  the 
time.  He  will  discover  how,  within  the  limits 
of  established  costs  and  market  prices,  the 
life  of  labor  may  be  made,  for  the  lowest  nec- 
essary ranks  of  persons,  a  life  of  health  and 
decency  and  mental  growth.  He  will  show 
how  the  resources  of  an  industrial  organiza- 
tion, assembled  and  operated  primarily  to 
produce  certain  goods  or  render  certain  serv- 
ices for  the  market,  may  be  fully  exploited 
for  human  welfare — fully  and  completely  ex- 
ploited for  the  first  time — in  uplifting  and  en- 
riching the  lives  of  the  associated  individuals, 
by  serving  them  as  an  educational  agency,  as 
an  expert  consul tive  staff,  as  a  joint  buying 
power,    as   a   recreation    and   consumption 


24  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

group,  and  otherwise  in  many  charming  ways 
yet  to  be  discovered  by  those  who  have  faith. 

THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  ADMINISTRATORS 

What  the  military  leader  was  in  the  an- 
cient days  of  constant  war,  and  the  states- 
man in  the  period  of  the  formation  of  great 
States,  the  industrial  executive  is  in  this  com- 
mercial age.  He  is~the  leading  exponent  of 
organized  action  in  the  world.  He  should 
dignify  his  tasks,  boldly  conceiving  them  on 
the  highest  plane  of  which  he  is  capable.  He 
is  the  intellectual  heir  of  all  the  various  kinds 
of  executives  of  the  past,  and  there  rests  upon 
him  the  mandate  not  to  disgrace  the  succes- 
sion. 

It  is  open  to  him  to  maintain  a  stimulating 
communion  with  his  predecessors — with  all 
the  great  military  leaders  and  statesmen  and 
diplomats  whose  history  is  preserved  for  us 
— and  from  their  experience  to  gather  prin- 
ciples of  action.  Why  should  not  the  busi- 
ness executive  practice  Caesar's  leniency,  and 
his  art  of  making  common  cause  with  his 
men,  or  endeavor  whether  Napoleon's  celer- 
ity may  not  be  used  in  the  bloodless  battles 
of  economic  service  f  Why  should  he  not  be 
stimulated  by  Eichelieu's  example  to  strive 


RISE  OF   A   NEW   PROFESSION  25 

for  coolness  of  analysis,  or  be  moved  by  Sir 
Philip  Sidney's  charm  to  practice  the  art  of 
winning  friends  f 

Brought  into  contact  with  the  thoughts  and 
deeds  of  great  minds,  the  business  executive 
need  not  feel  alone  in  the  smallest  village,  or 
the  most  distant  engineering  camp.  He  will 
find  that  before  him  the  great  company  of  the 
world's  executives  has  had  to  deal  with  the 
same  weaknesses  of  human  nature  as  those 
against  which  he  combats,  and  has  relied 
upon  the  same  virtues,  and  employed  such 
methods  of  organization  and  administration, 
in  bringing  men  to  effective  joint  action,  as 
are  equally  open  to  him.  The  field  of  his 
leadership  may,  indeed,  be  different  from 
theirs,  but  the  fundamental  principles  by 
which  his  action  should  be  animated  and  con- 
trolled are  largely  the  same. 

Viewed  thus,  in  proper  relation  to  the  his- 
tory which  is  logically  its  own,  the  work  of 
the  business  executive  loses  its  isolated,  sor- 
did, and  empirical  character.  It  acquires  a 
tradition,  and  multiplies  the  relations  which 
knit  it  together  with  the  other  portions  of 
society's  organized  effort.  It  gains  a  thou- 
sand new  enthusiasms  and  sources  of  sig- 


26  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

nificance,  and  becomes  a  promising  founda- 
tion upon  which  to  erect  ideals  of  a  profes- 
sional character. 

THE  OUTLOOK 

A  previous  age  witnessed  the  Industrial 
Bevolution,  which  introduced  the  machine, 
and  through  it  worked  the  entire  reconstruc- 
tion of  society.  Now  a  second  industrial 
revolution  is  in  progress,  which  aims  to  lay 
a  foundation  of  administrative  principles  un- 
derneath business  practice,  and  which,  if  it 
succeeds,  will  inaugurate  a  new  era  of  prog- 
ress. 

It  lies  within  the  power  of  this  generation 
to  end  much  of  the  drudgery  and  antagonism 
from  which  the  operative  classes  suffer,  by 
devising  more  just  and  flexible  methods  of 
partnership  between  the  productive  factors, 
and  by  harmonizing  operative  methods  with 
the  requirements  of  human  nature.  It  will  be 
possible  also  to  unlock  much  of  the  energy  of 
administrative  circles,  and  of  staff  ranks, 
which  is  at  present  dormant  because  of  the 
absence  of  professional  pride  and  of  objects 
worthy  of  profound  enthusiasm.  It  will  be 
possible  to  raise  the  general  tone  of  industry 
by  setting  forth  new  ideals  of  efficiency,  dis- 
tributive justice  and  democracy. 


THE    ADMINISTRATOR    AS  A 
GENERAL 

Chapter  II 

THE  UTILITY   OF  THE   STUDY   OF 
HISTORY 

THE  art  of  administration  is  as  old  as 
the  human  race.  Even  the  leading 
wolf  of  a  pack  is  an  administrator.  Organ- 
ization is  older  than  history,  for  the  earliest 
documents,  such  as  the  code  of  Hammurabi, 
show  the  evidences  of  many  generations  of 
systematized  social  life.  The  real  pioneers 
are  the  unknown  promoters  of  the  stone  age, 
and  the  system-makers  of  the  bronze  age. 
Long  ago  almost  every  conceivable  experi- 
ment in  organization  was  first  made.  The 
records  of  history  tell  us  of  large  units  and 
small  ones,  of  great  and  slight  differentia- 
tion of  functions,  of  extreme  division  and 
extreme  concentration  of  authority,  of  mild 
and  severe  sanctions,  of  appeal  to  system 
27 


28  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

and  appeal  to  passion,  of  trust  in  numbers 
and  trust  in  leadership.  Of  the  vast  variety 
of  units  of  organization  through  which 
human  intelligence  has  worked,  and  through 
which  human  purposes  have  been  achieved, 
or  thwarted,  the  greater  part  has  passed 
away ;  and  the  names  of  them,  even  have  been 
forgotten. 

In  politics,  the  evolution  has  passed 
through  the  horde,  the  patriarchal  family, 
the  clan,  and  the  classical  city  State. 
Nations  have  tried  despotisms,  oligarchies 
and  theocracies,  absolute  and  constitutional 
monarchies,  and  republics.  In  military  mat- 
ters the  phalanx  gave  way  to  the  legion 
and  cohort,  and  these,  in  turn,  to  the  di- 
vision, brigade,  regiment,  battalion,  and 
company.  Throughout  history,  the  survival 
of  the  fittest,  as  between  nations,  has  been 
fought  out,  in  part,  on  the  basis  of  the  ability 
to  use  organized  and  co-operative  methods 
of  action.  What  a  wealth  of  experience  has 
been  gained — and  lost!  How  many  times, 
in  the  long  journey  of  history,  have  underly- 
ing administrative  principles  been,  with  en- 
thusiasm,  discovered, — and   rediscovered ! 

And  yet  we  seem  to  have  accumulated  but  a 
small  reserve  stock  of  knowledge  on  this  im- 


THE   LESSONS   OF    HISTORY  29 

portant  subject.  We  are  still  eagerly  search- 
ing for  the  most  elementary  principles  of 
administration.  With  countless  generations 
of  experience,  in  the  conduct  of  affairs,  be- 
hind us,  the  individual  business  executive  of 
today  is  feverishly  trying  to  broaden  and  in- 
tensify his  personal  experience — to  live  fast 
and  hard,  so  that,  in  the  short  span  of  his 
life,  he  may  discover  de  novo,  for  himself, 
the  principles  and  policies  required  in  the 
government  of  the  complicated  economic  or- 
ganizations of  the  present  day. 

Since  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
administration  is  now  of  so  great  import- 
ance, we  should  add  to  the  agencies  now 
being  established  for  the  study  of  current 
performance  a  provision  for  the  systematic 
review  of  the  history  of  administration.  An 
analogy  exists  between  the  present  needs  of 
the  American  business  executive,  into  whose 
hands  in  a  generation  a  great  increase  in 
power  has  come,  and  the  needs  of  the  Ger- 
man army  officers  before  the  development 
of  that  splendid  system  which  made  Germany 
the  leading  military  power  of  the  world.  A 
hint  may,  therefore,  be  gained  from  their 
experience.  The  Prussian  General  Staff  and 
War  College  were  organized  to  gather  all 


30  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

engineering,  topographic,  and  other  technical 
knowledge,  which  could  be  made  of  nse  in 
war.  But,  especially,  there  was  entrusted  to 
them  the  function  of  reviewing  military  his- 
tory in  a  scientifically  thorough  manner,  to 
obtain  from  it  the  maxims  and  principles 
which  possess  validity  for  future  operations. 
In  the  hands  of  general  historians,  history 
is  worthless  for  military  guidance;  but  to 
Scharnhorst,  von  Clausewitz,  von  der  Goltz, 
von  Moltke,  and  the  other  students  of  the 
General  Staff,  is  due  the  credit  of  having  so 
sifted  their  facts,  and  so  brought  them  to 
bear  in  the  criticism  of  principles,  that  they 
have  made  them  a  firm  foundation  for  the 
scientific  conduct  of  war.  Nor  have  they 
confined  their  attention  to  military  affairs 
alone;  the  entire  history  of  administration 
has  been  laid  under  tribute.  The  suggestion 
we  would  offer  is  that  a  similar  study  of  ad- 
ministrative history  should  now  be  made  in 
the  interest  of  the  business  executive. 

This  study,  to  be  fruitful,  must  be  strictly 
scientific  in  its  character.  Many  men  of 
affairs  are  much  prejudiced  against  the  in- 
vasion of  business  by  science  and  theory. 
They  conceive  of  these  things  as  something 
new  and  untried,  and  something  opposed  to 


THE  LESSONS  OF  HISTORY  31 

experience.  A  certain  excuse  for  this  view 
exists  in  the  fact  that  the  scientific  method 
has,  thus  far  since  its  discovery,  been  ap- 
plied most  prominently  to  facts  which  or- 
dinary experience  does  not  furnish,  but 
which  are  attainable  only  through  the  some- 
what rigid  and  refined  methods  of  the  labor- 
atory. Many  persons  have  concluded  from 
this  that  the  method  can  not  be  applied  to  the 
facts  of  ordinary  experience. 

Again,  the  results  of  science  which  have 
come  forth  from  the  laboratories,  in  the  form 
of  theories,  have  often  presented  themselves 
in  the  guise  of  something  new  and  not  pre- 
viously heard  of,  and  something  requiring 
the  most  suspicious  treatment  before  being 
admitted  to  any  part  in  practical  affairs. 
And  so  again,  a  conflict  between  new  and  old, 
between  "theory"  and  "practice,"  has 
seemed  to  exist. 

He  would  be  a  rash  man,  in  this  day  of 
grace,  who  would  deny  that  laboratory 
science  has  gloriously  triumphed,  and  made 
contributions  of  incalculable  worth  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  human  race.  This  triumph 
is  a  demonstration  of  the  efficiency  of  the 
scientific  method.  It  certainly  establishes  a 
presumption  that  its  application  to  bodies  of 


32  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

fact  which  arise  outside  the  laboratory  will 
also  be  attended  by  valuable  results.  It  may 
be  safely  affirmed  that  the  way  by  which  a 
maximum  utilization  of  experience  can  be  at- 
tained is  through  the  application  of  the 
scientific  method.  Only  in  the  delicate  scales 
of  science  can  the  complicated  conditions  of 
practical  affairs  be  accurately  weighed,  and 
the  various  factors  contributing  to  success  or 
failure  be  disentangled  and  separately  ap- 
praised. Through  its  careful  method  of 
study  alone,  can  we  be  sure  that  the  part 
which  accident  and  favor  have  played  has 
been  reasonably  allowed  for.  This  much  the 
application  of  science  to  the  recording  and 
measuring  of  current  performance  is  now 
demonstrating.  The  riches  of  past  exper- 
ience still  constitute  a  great  unutilized  op- 
portunity for  science  to  render  service. 

The  fundamental  bases  upon  which  the 
scientific  method  rests  are  two.  The  first  is 
that  all  parts  of  truth  are  in  harmony  with 
all  other  parts.  If  there  is  not  a  rational 
order  in  the  world,  the  mind  of  man  is  in- 
capable of  understanding  the  universe  in 
which  it  is  placed.  The  second  basis  is  that 
any  truth  possesses  equal  validity  for  every 
normally  constituted  mind.     On  these  two 


THE  LESSONS  OP  HISTORY  33 

bases  the  scientific  method  proceeds.  This 
method  is  not  different  in  kind  from  the 
methods  of  ordinary  observation  and  think- 
ing; it  rather  differs  from  these  in  degree. 
Briefly  characterized,  it  is  an  orderly,  per- 
sistent, and  thorough  use  of  the  mind.  More 
fully  stated,  the  scientific  method  is  the 
analysis  of  problems  into  their  elements;  an 
extensive  and  thoroughly  adequate  collection 
of  data;  an  exact  and  truthful  classification 
of  facts  on  the  basis  of  their  nature ;  such  an 
arrangement  and  grouping  of  them  as  will 
best  reveal  agreements,  differences,  and  con- 
comitant variations  between  them;  and  the 
making  of  inferences,  or  the  discovery  of 
new  facts,  by  means  of  induction,  deduction, 
and  analogy.  The  new  truths,  or  inductions, 
are  then  subject  to  criticism  and  test  in 
every  possible  way.  The  scientific  method 
calls  for  the  eradication  of  prejudice  which 
may  interfere  with  the  just  estimate  of  any 
facts;  and  it  requires  open-mindedness,  or 
willingness  to  receive  new  facts  at  any  time, 
and  to  make  such  revisions  in  conclusions 
as  may  be  required. 

This  method  is  universal  in  its  applica- 
bility. It  can  be  set  at  work  upon  the  or- 
ganizations   of   which   we    find   records    in 


34  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

history,  as  well  as  upon  the  fossil  remains 
of  organisms  in  the  earth's  strata.  It  can 
work  upon  data  which  are  the  product  of 
the  most  haphazard,  partial,  or  impassioned 
of  experiences,  as  it  can  upon  the  exactly 
controlled  processes  of  a  laboratory  exper- 
iment. The  results  obtained  will,  of  course, 
depend  upon  the  quality  of  the  materials 
furnished  to  it,  and  upon  the  degree  to  which 
the  material  can  be  controlled  to  compel 
it  to  reveal  its  true  nature  completely  and 
clearly. 

When,  now,  we  turn  to  the  practical  con- 
sideration of  the  study  of  the  history  of 
administration,  various  objections  interpose 
themselves.  For  one  thing,  there  is  very 
little  history  of  private  business  administra- 
tion available.  Many  men  prominent  in 
industry  and  commerce,  in  the  past,  have  left 
us  no  records.  Some  of  them,  no  doubt, 
made  their  way  by  tact,  or  overmastering 
personal  energy,  in  spite  of  defective  ad- 
ministration; some  have  preferred  darkness 
because  their  deeds  were  evil.  Many  ex- 
cellent administrators  have  never  formu- 
lated their  ideas  far  enough,  dressing  away 
the  incidents  of  time  and  place,  to  enable 
them  to  observe  that  there  were  permanent 


THE   LESSONS   OF   HISTORY  35 

principles  underlying  their  actions.  Com- 
petition has  often  spread  a  mantle  of  secrecy 
over  the  essential  facts. 

Some  of  these  forces,  which  have  re- 
pressed economic  facts  from  the  record  of 
history,  may  be  seen  at  work  in  America  to- 
day. A  generation  of  great  leaders,  which 
developed  with  the  progress  of  the  country's 
industry,  and  has  come  up  from  the  day  of 
small  things  to  an  exercise  of  power  rival- 
ling that  of  the  rulers  of  kingdoms,  is  now 
passing  off  the  stage  of  action.  With  rare 
exceptions,  these  men  vanish  away  mute, 
leaving  no  autobiographies.  Examine  a 
British  book  list  and  you  will  find  that 
every  month  some  diplomat,  or  officer  of 
state,  or  traveler,  or  colonial  governor  has, 
in  the  evening  of  life,  set  down  whatever 
may  be  of  permanent  value  in  his  experience, 
and  published  his  reminiscences.  In  no 
country  of  the  world  have  greater  things 
been  done,  during  the  last  generation,  than 
in  America;  but  our  doers  of  them  are  in- 
articulate. Conscious  enough  that  the  tang- 
ible things  they  have  wrought  will  quickly 
crumble,  they  yet  fail  to  round  out  the  pur- 
pose of  life,  and  distill  a  final  essence  of 
principles    and   policies    which   might   pos- 


36  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

sess  lasting  utility.  Their  estates  are 
scarcely  distributed  before  the  question, 
"How  did  they  achieve  their  success V  is 
given  up  forever. 

In  this  dilemma  we  may  turn  to  the  his- 
tory of  political  and  military  institutions, 
and  find  ample  materials  for  the  study  of 
administration.  These  lines  of  activity  have 
swept  together  millions  of  people  into  single 
organizations,  and  have  made  the  leaders 
the  cynosures  of  innumerable  eyes.  If 
Crassus,  at  one  time  the  richest  man  in 
Rome,  is  little  more  than  a  name  to  us,  we 
know  of  his  contemporary,  Caesar,  the 
private  life,  the  motives  and  methods,  the 
hesitations  and  resolves.  If  there  is  but  an 
odd  book  or  two  of  colorless  record  of 
Mayer  Bauer,  the  Napoleon  of  Finance  of 
the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  the  founder  of  the  house  of  Rothschild, 
we  have  of  his  contemporary,  the  Emperor 
Napoleon,  an  enormous  literature,  con- 
tributed to  not  only  by  the  great  men  who 
either  aided  or  opposed  him,  but  by  his 
valet  and  the  palace  ladies-in-waiting.  Thus 
there  has  been  insured,  in  certain  depart- 
ments of  administration,  at  least,  searching 
publicity,  and  an  abundant  record. 


THE    LESSONS   OF    HISTORY  37 

-  But  another  difficulty  will  doubtless  be 
urged,  namely,  that  industry  is  neither  war 
nor  politics,  so  that  the  study  of  the  admin- 
istrative methods  used  in  those  fields  will 
not  yield  results  which  can  be  applied  to 
the  conduct  of  industry.  The  usages  of 
common  speech  indicate,  however,  that  we 
constantly  observe  the  similarity  between 
the  forces  and  conditions  in  these  fields  of 
activity.  We  commonly  speak  of  "  captains 
of  industry/ '  of  the  " strategy* '  of  great 
business,  and  of  "  tactics' '  and  "  cam- 
paigns/ '  and  "line"  and  "staff."  Ar- 
gument from  analogy  is  one  of  the  valid 
forms  of  reasoning.  It  is  the  method  of 
homologous  series,  which  rests  upon  the  as- 
sumption that  what  is  true  of  one  set  of 
circumstances  is  likely  to  be  true,  in  some 
degree,  of  similar  sets  of  circumstances.  It 
fastens  upon  a  resemblance  between  two 
sets  of  relations,  by  which  each  case  is  made 
to  reveal  more  fully  the  nature  of  the  other. 
As  a  means  of  gaining  insight,  analogy 
has  been  used  since  the  dawn  of  wisdom. 
In  the  Bible  we  find  the  deepest  spiritual 
truths  suggested  by  analogies  from  nature, 
and  from  the  simple  relations  of  the  house- 
hold and  the  crafts.    In  the  parable  of  the 


38  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

sower,  we  review  the  various  types  of 
human  nature.  By  means  of  the  porter, 
commanded  to  watch  lest  his  lord,  returning 
suddenly,  find  him  sleeping,  and  by  the  man 
trying  to  serve  two  masters,  we  learn  of 
surprise  tests,  and  indefinite  responsibility. 
In  the  case  of  the  house  divided  against 
itself  we  see  the  evil  of  faction,  and  of  de- 
partmental rivalries.  In  the  piece  of  new 
cloth  sewed  onto  an  old  garment,  and  the 
new  wine  put  into  old  skins,  we  learn  the 
law  of  harmonious  co-ordination  of  agencies. 
The  strictness  of  an  analogy  depends  upon 
the  similarity  of  the  subject  matters  in- 
volved. If  we  compare  organizations  for 
war  and  politics  with  those  for  industry, 
we  shall  find  the  conditions  vital  to 
administrative  success  markedly  similar. 
There  is  the  same  human  nature,  with 
its  equipment  of  physical  and  mental 
faculties.  The  same  protection  is  re- 
quired against  carelessness,  laziness,  jeal- 
ousy, fear,  and  selfishness;  the  same  re- 
liance can  be  placed  upon  generosity,  in- 
telligence, energy  and  loyalty.  There  are 
always  the  unchangeable  factors  of  time, 
space,  and  the  properties  of  matter  and 
force,  presenting  themselves  in  different  de- 


THE   LESSONS   OF    HISTORY  39 

grees  of  importance.  Some  of  the  factors 
change  in  their  nature,  though  gradually; 
knowledge  increases,  and  the  state  of  the 
arts  progresses;  so  also  do  the  customs  of 
society,  and  the  moral  standards  which 
must  be  observed.  For  these  changes  al- 
lowance can  be  made,  and  should  be  made 
with  the  greatest  care. 

The  peculiar  value  of  analogy  is  that  by 
it  certain  cases,  in  which  relations  are  clear 
and  conspicuous,  are  used  to  familiarize  the 
mind  with  the  nature  of  the  relation,  iso 
that,  when  similar  phenomena,  differently 
grouped,  are  studied,  we  are  able  to  detect 
the  relationship,  even  though  it  be  subtle 
and  partly  hidden  in  its  new  form.  We 
know  that  when  once  a  figure  in  a  picture- 
puzzle  has  been  pointed  out  it  seems  so 
prominent  that  we  wonder  how  we  could 
have  previously  overlooked  it.  One  hears 
a  note  in  a  chord  distinctly,  when  it  has 
been  previously  sounded  separately.  So  the 
analogy  aids  us  by  familiarizing  us  with  the 
idea  of  the  relationship  for  which  we  seek. 
When  we  know  intimately  the  'character- 
istic signs  of  a  thing,  we  are  able  to  de- 
tect its  presence  or  absence  confidently  and 
readily. 


40  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

The  greatest  body  of  valuable  data  on 
any  particular  subject  is  likely  to  be  found 
where  circumstances  have  made  the  element 
of  performance,  in  which  we  are  interested, 
of  unusual  importance,  or  where  a  force 
has  triumphed  over  unusual  opposition,  or 
where  a  man  of  unusual  capacity  has  ob- 
tained the  authority  and  resources  to  do 
things.  We  should  seek  for  the  circum- 
stances which  have  specially  emphasized  or 
stressed  the  thing  we  would  study,  for  there 
the  principles  of  which  we  are  in  search  are 
so  developed  and  magnified  as  to  make 
their  study  easy.  An  administrator  who 
desires  to  follow  this  rule  will,  for  example, 
turn  to  military  operations  to  observe  how 
leadership  has  been  exercised  when  res- 
ponsibilities are  terrifying,  and  the  great- 
est resource  of  soul  is  required  to  make 
decisions.  Or  in  diplomacy,  he  will  find 
circumstances  which  emphasize  harmony  and 
balance  of  character,  and  respect  for  cus- 
tom. If  one  would  study  preliminary  prep- 
aration, he  may  examine  Nansen's  remark- 
able preparation  for  his  journey  in  the 
Fram;  if  one  desires  to  study  economy  of 
time  he  may  advantageously  begin  with  a 
city  fire  department.     A  knowledge  of  the 


THE   LESSONS   OF    HISTORY  41 

military  manual  of  arms  would  be  a  sugges- 
tive preliminary  to  motion  study,  and  an  ex- 
amination of  the  national  mints  would  sug- 
gest methods  of  preventing  waste. 

In  the  study  of  the  extreme  case,  the  thing 
sought  is  presented  distinctly  and  emphat- 
ically to  the  attention.  And  this  is  a 
great  advantage,  for  all  perceptions  tend 
to  fuse  in  the  mind  into  a  general  impres- 
sion, unless  forcibly  prevented  by  the  ex- 
penditure of  the  energy  necessary  to  effect 
their  analysis  and  separate  consideration. 

This  suggests  the  value,  to  the  student  of 
administration,  of  giving  himself  free  range 
over  the  entire  field  of  administration,  not 
confining  himself  to  industrial  administra- 
tion alone ;  for  only  by  wide  comparisons  will 
he  be  able  to  select  the  type  of  cases  which 
most  clearly  reveals  to  him  the  workings  of 
the  force  he  desires  to  study.  The  person 
who  cuts  himself  off  from  subjects  analo- 
gous to  his  own  loses  something  of  the  force 
of  the  contrasts  and  similarities  of  the  facts 
with  which  he  deals.  To  refuse  the  com- 
prehensive and  flexible  service  of  analogy 
is  to  rob  oneself  of  much  of  the  resource 
by  which  the  probability,  or  improbability, 
of  all  forms  of  conclusions  is  established. 


Chapter   III 
MILITARY   HISTORY 

TV/TILITARY  HISTORY  divides  itself 
*■**-  broadly  into  great  periods,  in  each  of 
which  certain  definite  ideals  and  enthu- 
siasms have  m,oved  the  minds  of  men,  seek- 
ing embodiment  in  appropriate  military 
units  and  authorities,  and  finding  expression 
in  characteristic  movements  of  strategy  and 
tactics.  Let  us  briefly  glance  at  the  lead- 
ing characteristics  of  some  of  these  periods, 
with  a  view  to  suggesting  analogies  which 
have  interest  from  their  bearing  upon  the 
administration  of  industrial  enterprises. 

ROMAN  ARMS 

The  Roman  military  unit  was  the  legion 
of  from  4,000  to  6,000  men,  divided  into 
ten  cohorts.  The  strength  of  Roman  arms 
lay  in  three  things.  The  first  of  these  was 
a  careful  selection  of  men  from  among  such 
citizens  as  were  practiced  in  arms.  The 
second  dependence  was  upon  discipline. 
Warlike  youths  were  accustomed  to  the  use 
of  arms  as  a  recreation,  so  that  it  was  said 
that  their  sports  were  battles  without  blood- 
43 


44  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

shed,  and  their  battles  bloody  sports.  The 
third  point  was  the  prompt  adoption  of  all 
improvements  suggested  by  the  experience 
of  foreign  wars.  The  Koman  legion  was 
practically  never  defeated,  so  long  as  these 
three  principles  remained  in  force.  The 
secret  of  its  strength  was  the  spirit  of  the 
men  who,  in  their  perfect  discipline,  ex- 
pressed their  glory  in  Rome,  and  their  con- 
fidence in  themselves. 

The  most  brilliant  achievements  of  this 
military  instrument  were  attained  by  Caesar, 
who  aroused  the  devotion  of  his  troops  to 
the  highest  point  by  making  common  cause 
with  them  in  the  pursuit  of  valor.  As 
Plutarch  says,  "He  showed  them  that  he 
did  not  heap  up  wealth  from  the  wars  for 
his  own  luxury,  or  the  gratifying  of  his  pri- 
vate pleasures,  but  that  all  he  received  was 
but  a  public  fund  laid  by  for  the  reward  and 
encouragement  of  valor." 

Defeat  came  to  Eoman  arms  only  when 
numerous  wars  had  made  it  necessary  to 
sweep  together  heterogeneous  classes,  which 
did  not  feel  the  old  confidence  in  each  other, 
and  to  introduce  barbarians  who  did  not 
feel  enthusiasm  for  Roman  triumphs.  Rome 
fell,  furthermore,  because  it  became  a  house 


MILITARY   PRECEDENTS  45 

divided  against  itself.  The  civil  wars  made 
it  no  longer  Rome  for  which  the  troops 
fought,  but  the  triumph  of  a  faction.  The 
leaders  of  factions  being  disinclined  to  dis- 
band their  armies,  the  civilian  troops  dis- 
appeared, and  in  their  place  came  bands 
of  paid  professional  fighters. 

THE    BYZANTINE    EMPIRE 

After  the  decline  of  Rome,  the  center  of 
the  world's  military  progress  was,  for  seven 
or  eight  centuries,  transferred  to  the  Greek 
empire.  Constantinople  ruled  elements  of 
a  much  less  homogeneous  nature  than 
Rome,  in  her  prime,,  had  depended  upon. 
There  was  less  loyalty  to  the  central  rule 
there,  and  far  less  liberty  under  it. 

The  decisive  military  fact  of  the  East  was, 
however,  that  Byzantium  had  to  contend 
against  overwhelming  numerical  superiority 
in  its  enemies.  South  of  it,  from  the  Indies 
to  the  Atlantic,  was  the  Saracen  empire, 
burning  with  the  zeal  of  a  new  religion. 
To  the  east  were  the  Seljuk  Turks,  while 
to  the  north  were  the  Bulgarians,  and  the 
Slavonian  and  Hunic  tribes. 

Against  such  odds  it  was  useless  simply 
to  match  man  for  man.  The  military  lead- 
ers   of   the    empire   were   full    of   military 


46  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

spirit,  and  took  keen  delight  in  war  as  a 
game;  but  they  were  the  descendants  of 
Ulysses,  and  they  made  of  war  a  game  of 
finesse  and  cleverness — in  short,  a  war  of 
wits.  They  had  the  greatest  contempt  for 
the  reckless  hard-hitters  of  the  West  who 
plunged  into  battle  without  ensuring  to 
themselves  every  possible  advantage.  The 
strategists  of  the  East,  by  their  spying 
and  bribes,  by  stirring  up  treason  in  the 
enemies '  camp,  by  surprises,  simulated  re- 
treats, and  ambush,  illustrated  the  saying 
of  Bacon  that  stratagem  is  a  weaker  kind 
of  policy,  used  by  those  who  are  not  strong 
enough  to  win  by  fairer  methods. 

The  Byzantine  empire,  weakened  by  the 
destruction  of  its  patriotic  middle  classes, 
and  robbed  of  the  protection  of  buffer  States 
through  its  own  folly,  was  finished  by  the 
marauding  expedition  called  the  Fourth  Cru- 
sade;   and  it  broke  into  fragments. 

MIDDLE   AGES 

When  the  Eoman  empire  became  a  shadow, 
and  the  Church  was  the  one  remaining  bond 
of  Western  Christendom,  political  rule  in 
Europe  was  scattered  into  the  hands  of 
numerous  feudal  lords.  Military  operations 
were   carried   on   then   by   small   bands   of 


MILITARY   PRECEDENTS  47 

aristocratic  mounted  men  in  armor,  who 
followed  the  banners  of  their  over-lords 
through  fealty.  The  Koman  troops  were 
originally  infantry,  but  the  mounted  plunder- 
ing hordes  of  eastern  Germans  and  Hun- 
garians had  already,  in  later  Eoman  times, 
forced  some  of  the  legions  to  mount,  in 
order  to  gain  in  speed.  For  western  Europe, 
the  call  to  horse  was  given  by  the  terrify- 
ing raids  of  the  Vikings.  Armor  was  nec- 
essary because  of  the  introduction  of  the 
long  bow  and  cross-bow,  the  pike,  the  two- 
handed  sword,  and  the  axe. 

In  armor  and  in  the  fortification  of  towns 
the  defensive  gained,  during  the  Middle 
Ages,  a  temporary  advantage  over  the 
offensive,  with  consequent  disintegration 
into  small  military  units.  Armor  and  for- 
tifications were,  however,  but  negative  meas- 
ures, so  that  when  the  Viking  raids  be- 
came more  frequent  and  extended,  and  were 
followed  by  permanent  settlements,  it  be- 
came necessary  to  increase  the  power  of 
the  offensive,  by  combination  into  larger 
units.  Loyalty  to  local  lords  gave  way, 
therefore,  to  loyalty  to  the  king.  The  royal 
armies,  which,  at  first,  were  small  shabby 
bands  of  mercenaries,  received  additions  of 


48  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

superior  quality  from  the  nobility.  This 
movement  toward  concentration  was  has- 
tened and  completed  by  the  introduction  of 
firearms,  which  took  away  the  superiority 
of  the  aristocratic  professional  fighter,  and 
enabled  the  fortifications  of  castles  and 
cities  to  be  speedily  battered  down. 

FREDERICK   THE  GREAT 

The  crowning  example  of  a  royal  army, 
used  as  the  personal  weapon  of  a  sovereign 
who  united  in  his  hands  absolute  political 
rule  and  the  powers  of  a  commander-in- 
chief,  is  the  army  of  Frederick  the  Great. 
The  way  was  prepared  for  this  great  Prus- 
sian genius  by  a  thrifty  father  who  built 
up  an  army  and  a  treasury  for  him.  As 
an  administrator,  the  father  stands  in  much 
the  same  relation  to  him  that  a  Benjamin 
Franklin,  expounding  maxims  of  thrift, 
would  bear  to  a  dashing  organizer  like  E. 
H.  Harriman. 

Frederick  was  an  intensely  active,  highly 
capable,  strong-willed  and  self-reliant  com- 
mander. He  concentrated  all  power  in  his 
own  hands,  reducing  his  ministers  to  clerical 
work,  and  his  generals  to  the  duties  of  per- 
sonal lieutenants.     Below  him  the  Prussian 


, 


MILITARY   PRECEDENTS  49 

administration  was  a  thing  of  stiff  and  me- 
chanical obedience,  lacking  in  initiative  and 
individuality.  Several  of  Frederick's  mil- 
itary losses  were  due  to  the  fact  that  he 
gave  his  generals  such  minute  orders,  and 
was  so  severe  in  case  of  disregard  of  in- 
structions, that  they  did  not  dare  to  use 
their  own  judgment,  when  unforeseen  con- 
ditions presented  themselves.  He  person- 
ally foresaw  and  provided  for  everything; 
he  inspected  frequently  and  thoroughly,  and 
his  sharp  eyes  saw  everything.  His  dis- 
cipline was  severe  and  knew  neither  grati- 
tude nor  resentment.  His  calculations  were 
accurate  and  his  plans  were  limited  to  what 
was  possible.  His  movements,  which  were 
skillfully  disguised,  were  rapid.  So  su- 
perior was  Frederick  to  his  opponents  in 
strategy  that  they  were  obliged  for  safety 
to  keep  their  troops  in  concentrated  form, 
and  dared  not  give  themselves  sufficient 
space  for  effective  manoeuvres.  To  him 
was  due  the  invention  of  the  oblique  order, 
a  system  of  concentrating  upon  one  point 
in  the  enemy's  line  by  means  of  attack  at 
an  angle.  He  was  more  capable  in  march- 
ing and  manoeuvre  than  in  battle;  more 
capable  in  battle  than  in  siege.    It  was  his 


50  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

practice  to  follow  success  with  vigorous  pur- 
suit, but  in  defeat,  like  Hannibal,  lie  be- 
came only  the  more  active  and  dangerous. 

His  great  defect  as  an  administrator  lay 
in  the  fact  that  he  dwarfed  the  growth  of 
those  below  him,  and  so  educated  no  tal- 
ented corps  to  bear  the  political  and  mil- 
itary burdens  of  the  State,  when  he  should 
be  obliged  to  lay  them  down.  He  ap- 
parently could  do  things  only  through  him- 
self. Having  a  supreme  contempt  for  the 
capacities  of  most  mortals,  he  had  no  mind 
to  make  experiments  which  might  have 
changed  his  opinions.  Although  he  knew, 
for  many  years,  that  his  successor  was  to 
be  a  man  without  ability,  he  handed  down 
to  him  a  system  which  required  a  Fred- 
erick. We  may  say  that  he  brilliantly  ad- 
ministered a  system  which  was  badly  organ- 
ized. 

After  his  death,  the  prestige  of  his  name 
and  deeds  was  so  great  that  it  was  con- 
sidered blasphemy  to  suggest  that  any 
change  could  improve  the  Prussian  army. 
Its  methods  could,  therefore,  suffer  no  al- 
teration, except  a  refinement  of  punctilios, 
such  as  drill  and  uniforms.  This  army 
which    had    gloriously    finished    the    seven 


MILITARY   PRECEDENTS  51 

years'  war  in  1763,  against  the  united  force 
of  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Continent,  was 
utterly  routed  by  hesitating  and  divided 
leadership  when  it  met  Napoleon  at  Jena, 
in  1806,  twenty  years  after  Frederick's 
death. 

NAPOLEON 

Napoleon  and  Frederick  resemble  one 
another,  in  many  ways,  as  administrators. 
The  aims  of  the  two  men  were,  however, 
entirely  different.  While  Frederick  was  de- 
voted wholly  to  the  advancement  of  Prussia, 
identifying  himself  completely  with  his  peo- 
ple, Napoleon  desired  power  as  a  means 
of  personal  aggrandizement,  and  was  at  the 
bottom  selfish  and  vain. 

As  military  leaders  the  great  difference 
between  the  two  men  lies  in  the  fact  that 
while  Frederick's  army  was  a  small  pro- 
fessional one  of  recruits  hired  whenever 
they  could  be  secured,  Napoleon  had  the 
leadership  of  civilian  armies  enormously 
larger  than  any  ever  before  put  in  the  field. 
The  French  Eevolution  awakened  the  pas- 
sions of  the  common  people  of  France  so 
that,  when  the  monarchs  of  Europe  com- 
bined in  an  attempt  to  force  royalty  back 
upon  them,  they  flocked  in  great  numbers 


52  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

to  the  national  standards.  These  men  were 
animated  by  a  terrible  intensity  of  spirit 
and  purpose,  and  willingly  met  deprivations 
in  the  field.  The  officers  dispensed  with  the 
camp  luxuries  characteristic  of  the  other 
armies  of  Europe;  and  the  men  marched 
with  light  knapsacks,  so  that  they  surprised 
the  world  by  their  rapidity  of  movement. 
When,  in  the  later  Napoleonic  campaigns, 
conscription  took  the  place  of  volunteering, 
and  a  war  of  defense  of  a  republic  changed 
into  one  of  offense  for  an  empire,  Napoleon 
knew  how  to  arouse  in  the  breasts  of  his 
men  the  love  of  glory  as  a  mainspring  of 
action. 

The  leading  military  principles  pf  Na- 
poleon were  to  seize  the  initiative  by  con- 
centrating his  forces  from  marching  into 
fighting  order  as  quickly  as  possible,  and, 
having  massed  the  troops  as  compactly  as 
effective  action  would  permit,  to  attack 
swiftly. 

This  attack  must  be  made  upon  a  portion 
only  of  the  enemy's  army,  and  the  weight 
of  one's  whole  force  must  be  crowded  in, 
so  that  at  the  point  of  action  a  decided  su- 
periority is  attained.  This  theory  of  action 
he  often  explained  to  his  generals.    Moreau, 


MILITARY   PRECEDENTS  53 

in  conversation  with  Napoleon  in  1799,  re- 
marked that  it  was  always  the  greater 
numbers  that  won.  To  which  Napoleon  re- 
plied: "You  are  right.  When,  with  in- 
ferior forces,  I  had  a  large  army  before  me, 
I  concentrated  mine  rapidly,  and  fell  like 
lightning  upon  one  of  the  enemy's  wings 
and  routed  it.  Then  I  took  advantage  of 
the  confusion  which  this  manoeuvre  never 
failed  to  produce  in  the  opposing  army  to 
attack  it  on  another  point,  but  always  with 
my  whole  force.  Thus  I  beat  it  in  detail, 
and  the  victory  which  was  the  result  was  al- 
ways, as  you  see,  the  triumph  of  the  larger 
over  the  lesser.' ' 

In  one  way  Napoleon  possessed  a  defect 
similar  to  that  of  Frederick.  He  provided 
no  adequate  staff  to  relieve  himself  of  de- 
tails. During  his  early  years  he  made  up 
for  this  lack  by  remarkable  physical  activity, 
but  when  still  in  early  middle  age  his 
energies  began  to  decline.  He  allowed  him- 
self ease  and  luxury,  and  showed  an  in- 
creasing dislike  for  the  hardships  of  the 
field  at  a  time  when  his  enterprises  were 
growing  rapidly  in  size,  and  were  passing 
into  a  serious  stage.  The  lack  of  staff  was 
not  from  inability  to  create  the  necessary 


54  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

administrative  machinery,  and  insure  its 
efficient  working,  for  he  maintained  a  spy 
system  which  rivaled  that  of  Cardinal 
Eichelieu.  It  is  more  likely  that  his  in- 
tense desire  to  stand  alone,  in  order  to  re- 
ceive all  the  credit  for  what  was  done,  was 
the  secret  of  his  action. 

This  brings  us  to  the  chief  defect  of  his 
character.  Although  undoubtedly  the  great- 
est military  genius  that  ever  lived,  he  over- 
reached himself.  This  is  shown  in  a  single 
enterprise  like  the  Eussian  campaign;  but  it 
is  shown  in  his  life  as  a  whole.  He  could 
probably  have  accomplished  the  anomaly, 
with  the  mercurial  French,  of  founding  a 
personal  dynasty  upon  the  French  Eevolu- 
tion  which  beheaded  royalty  and  announced 
the  rights  of  man;  but  when  he  attempted 
to  remake  the  map  of  Europe  he  reckoned 
beyond  his  power.  He  realized  that  the 
armies  of  the  Eepublic  had  been  animated 
by  a  passion  for  liberty,  equality  and  fra- 
ternity, but  he  could  not  understand  that  his 
aggressions  upon  other  countries  deprived 
his  armies  of  this  moral  force,  and  im- 
planted it  in  his  enemies;  and  that  no  skill 
in  strategy  and  tactics  could  long  withstand 
it.    He  would  not  permit  a  group  of  great 


MILITARY   PRECEDENTS  55 

administrators  and  military  leaders  to  share 
his  honors,  and  form  around  him  a  cabinet, 
which  might  have  protected  him  against 
himself.  And  so  he  plunged  forward,  unad- 
vised, and  talking  of  his  star  and  destiny, 
to  his  Waterloo. 

MODERN   CONDITIONS 

The  new  features  appearing  in  modern 
war  are  the  vast  increase  in  the  size  of 
armies  and  the  deadly  power  of  firearms. 
In  preliminary  mobilization  the  chief  ad- 
vantage to  be  gained  is  speed.  To  this  end, 
and  because  the  conditions  of  mobilization 
can  be  largely  foreseen  and  controlled,  the 
solution  which  is  applied  is  detailed  pre- 
liminary planning.  Duties  are  carefully  as- 
signed to  separate  individuals,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  effect  the  utmost  speed, 
through  a  smooth  co-ordination  of  move- 
ments, without  overloading  any  one  person. 

The  first  great  master  of  modern  prelim- 
inary planning  of  mobilization  was  Von 
Moltke.  In  his  description  of  the  mobiliza- 
tion for  the  Franco-Prussian  war  of  1870-71, 
he  thus  criticizes  the  advance  of  the  French 
army.  "The  regiments  had  marched  out 
of  quarters  incomplete  as  to  numbers,  and 


56  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

insufficiently  equipped.  Meanwhile  the  re- 
serves called  out  to  fill  their  place  had 
choked  the  railway  traffic;  they  crowded  the 
depots,  and  filled  the  railway  stations.  The 
progress  to  their  destination  was  delayed, 
for  it  was  often  unknown  at  the  railway 
stations  where  the  regiments  to  which  the 
reserves  were  to  be  sent  were  at  the  time 
encamped.  "When  they  at  last  joined,  they 
were  without  the  most  necessary  articles  of 
equipment.  The  corps  and  divisions  had 
no  artillery  or  baggage,  no  ambulance,  and 
only  a  very  insufficient  number  of  officers. 
No  magazines  had  been  established  before- 
hand, and  the  troops  were  to  depend  on  the 
fortresses.  These  were  but  ill-supplied,  for 
in  the  assured  expectation  that  the  armies 
would  be  almost  immediately  sent  on  into 
the  enemy's  country,  they  had  been  neg- 
lected. In  the  same  way  the  staff-officers 
had  been  provided  with  maps  of  Germany, 
but  not  of  their  own  provinces. 

"When  the  Emperor  arrived  at  Metz,  a 
week  after  the  declaration  of  war,  the  reg- 
iments were  not  yet  complete,  and  it  was 
not  even  exactly  known  where  whole  di- 
visions were  at  that  time  encamped.  The 
Emperor  ordered  the  troops  to  advance,  but 


MILITARY    PRECEDENTS  57 

his  marshals  declared  that  the  condition  of 
the  troops  made  this  impossible  for  the  time 
being.' '  And  so,  we  may  add,  the  effort  to 
carry  the  war  onto  German  territory  failed. 

The  advance  of  the  Prussian  army  is  thus 
described  by  Von  Moltke: 

"The  means  of  mobilizing  the  North 
German  army  had  been  reviewed  year  by 
year,  in  view  of  any  changes  in  the  mil- 
itary or  political  situation,  by  the  Staff,  in 
conjunction  with  the  ministry  of  war.  Every 
branch  of  the  administration  throughout  the 
country  had  been  kept  informed  of  all  it 
ought  to  know  of  these  matters.  The  orders 
for  marching,  and  travelling  by  rail  or  boat, 
were  worked  out  for  each  division  of  the 
army,  together  with  the  most  minute  direc- 
tions as  to  their  different  starting  points,  the 
day  and  hour  of  departure,  the  duration  of 
the  journey,  the  refreshment  stations  and 
place  of  destination.  At  the  meeting-point 
cantonments  were  assigned  to  each  corps  and 
division,  stores  and  magazines  were  estab- 
lished, and  thus,  when  war  was  declared,  it 
needed  only  the  royal  signature  to  set  the 
entire  apparatus  in  motion  with  undisturbed 
precision.  There  was  nothing  to  be  changed 
in  the  directions  originally  given;  it  sufficed 


58  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

to  carry  out  the  plans  prearranged  and  pre- 
pared.' ' 

In  strategy,  which  includes  the  general 
movements  of  a  campaign,  preliminary  plan- 
ning is  of  course  impossible.  The  distances 
separating  the  several  divisions  of  a  great 
army,  the  time  which  would  be  required  to 
make  voluminous  reports  to  headquarters 
and  to  receive  back  detailed  instructions,  and 
the  innumerable  local  conditions  which  can- 
not be  adequately  grasped  by  one  at  a  dis- 
tance, make  it  impossible  that  highly  central- 
ized control  should  exist. 

Here  the  flexibility  of  the  German  army 
system  is  shown.  In  contrast  to  the  rigid 
plan  of  mobilization  imposed  by  central  au- 
thority, when  the  campaign  is  once  under 
way  and  changing  and  uncertain  conditions 
have  to  be  dealt  with,  the  headquarters  be- 
comes responsible  only  for  the  general  fea- 
tures of  the  plan  of  operations. 

Authority  immediately  passes  down  the 
line  to  army  commanders,  and  regimental  and 
company  officers,  lodging  as  close  as  possible 
to  the  time,  place,  and  agencies  of  specific 
action.  The  army  then  becomes,  not  a  mech- 
anism under  the  thumb  of  a  single  leader, 
but  an  organism  with  great  liberty  of  action, 


MILITARY   PRECEDENTS  59 

and  corresponding  responsibility  resting 
upon  the  parts. 

It  is  reputed  that  Von  Moltke  once  said 
that  nothing  should  be  ordered  which  it  was 
conceivable  could  be  carried  out  by  the 
proper  officers  without  orders.  Certain  it  is 
that  the  orders  from  headquarters  in  the 
Austrian  and  Franco-Prussian  wars  were 
very  few  in  number,  and  composed  of  but  a 
few  sentences  each.  Passing  from  higher  to 
lower  units,  orders  from  the  leaders  of  sep- 
arate armies,  corps  orders,  and  division  or- 
ders, were,  of  course,  progressively  firmer 
and  more  detailed. 

In  the  modern  tactics  of  engagement,  a 
similar  rule  as  to  the  location  of  authority  is 
followed.  While  each  army  headquarters  re- 
tains sufficient  control  to  insure  harmony  of 
plan,  details  of  execution  are  intrusted 
largely  to  the  officers  on  the  field,  and  in  di- 
rect command  of  the  minor  divisions  of 
troops.  The  old  ramrod  drill  movements  of 
troops  on  the  field  of  battle  are  no  longer 
possible.  Discipline  is  now  interpreted 
broadly  that  each  individual  shall  apply 
sound  principles  in  every  emergency,  re- 
maining as  continuously  in  touch  with  au- 
thority as  this  will  permit.     The  fear  of 


60  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

minor  mistakes  is  as  nothing,  with  modern 
military  administrators,  in  comparison  with 
the  fear  of  crushing  out  the  spirit  and  energy 
of  troops  and  lower  officers  by  unduly  sup- 
pressing initiative. 

All  this  manifestly  calls  for  a  superior 
class  of  executives  of  all  ranks,  adequately 
prepared  for  their  duties.  To  provide  such 
officers,  Germany  has  perfected  her  War  Col- 
lege and  General  Staff  with  every  educa- 
tional and  scientific  agency  which  human  in- 
genuity can  devise.  To  these  institutions 
the  flower  of  the  regimental  officers  is  drawn 
for  training,  and  to  assist  in  the  solution  of 
the  problems  upon  which  the  Staff  works. 
From  these  institutions  they  soon  return  to 
the  regiments.  A  constant  transfusion  of 
talent  is  taking  place  between  the  regimental 
line  and  the  General  Staff.  Thus  is  insured 
to  the  commander-in-chief  a  body  of  capable 
officers  familiar  with  each  element  of  service, 
and  trained  to  intelligent  co-ordination  of  ef- 
forts. 

When  shall  the  great  affairs  of  a  country's 
industry  be  administered  with  equal  enlight- 
enment with  this  business  of  destruction  and 
bloodshed? 


Chapter   IV 
ADMINISTRATIVE    PRINCIPLES 

TN  comparing  the  administration  of  mili- 
•*■  tary  and  business  affairs,  I  do  not  wish 
to  create  the  impression  that  business  should 
be  run  exactly  as  an  army  is  commanded; 
much  less  to  imply  that  a  defense  for  any- 
thing harsh  and  brutal  in  business  can  be 
found  in  considering  it  as  a  kind  of  warfare. 
When  Sherman  once  made  a  celebrated  re- 
mark about  what  war  was,  he  referred  only 
to  the  immediate  results,  and  not  to  the  ulti- 
mate purpose.  It  may  be  said  that  the  suf- 
ferings of  a  just  war  lead  to  the  joys  of  a 
nobler  peace,  as  the  drudgery  of  industry 
leads  to  economic  well-being.  The  nature  of 
these  activities  is  to  purchase  a  desired  good 
through  suffering. 

No  doubt  the  harshness  of  the  immediate 
purpose  of  one  tinges  its  methods  in  a  way 
wholly  unjustified  in  the  other.  In  one  the 
tests  of  efficiency  of  the  executive  are  few 
and  irregular,  inexact,  and  darkly  confused 
by  uncertain  knowledge;  but  they  are  of 
61 


62  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

enormous  importance,  so  that  an  early  fail- 
ure seldom  permits  a  retrieval.  Industry  en- 
joys the  advantage  of  frequently  recurring, 
easily  measured  tests,  so  capable  of  classifi- 
cation that  a  gradual  growth  in  responsibil- 
ity is  possible  as  individual  capacity  is 
proved.  In  the  one  case,  costs  are  almost 
ignored;  in  the  other,  they  are  a  large  part 
of  the  essence  of  victory.  In  one  the  issues 
are  striking,  and  naturally  stir  the  soul  of 
m,an ;  while  in  the  other,  insight  of  interpre- 
tation is  needed  to  perceive  that,  under  a 
prosaic  exterior,  the  results  are  of  the  na- 
ture of  life  itself. 

The  purpose  of  comparing  the  two  with 
respect  to  administrative  procedure  is  to 
make  each  illuminate  the  real  nature  of  the 
other,  for  each  simply  clothes  in  concrete 
forms  the  workings  of  general  principles 
which  are  based  upon  the  ways  of  human  na- 
ture and  the  material  world. 

DECISION 

"War  presents  to  us  cases  where  the  word 
of  a  commander-in-chief  will  mean  the  death 
of  thousands  of  men  in  a  few  hours.  So 
clearly  does  this  show  the  harrowing  anx- 
iety which  must  rest  upon  the  mind  of  the 


ADMINISTRATIVE  PRINCIPLES  63 

military  leader,  that  we  can  see,  through  this 
emphasized  case,  that  it  is  doubt  and  anxiety 
which  are  the  great  enemies  to  be  conquered 
by  the  executive  who  would  assume  responsi- 
bility. Napoleon  said  at  St.  Helena :  '  *  Peo- 
ple rarely  have  an  idea  of  the  strength  of 
soul  it  requires  to  deliver,  after  full  reflec- 
tion on  its  results,  one  of  those  great  battles 
on  which  depends  the  fate  of  an  army,  or  a 
country,  or  the  possession  of  a  throne. 
And,"  he  added,  "few  generals  are  diligent 
in  seeking  battle,  although  without  it  no  de- 
cisive results  can  be  gained. ' ' 

Great  leaders  have  always  shown  facility 
in  passing  over  the  deadline  which  separates 
deliberation  from  action.  Frederick  the 
Great,  in  the  earliest  work  assigned  to  him, 
in  his  twenty-third  year,  showed  great  power 
of  making  up  his  mind  clearly  and  definitely. 
Wellington,  in  the  most  anxious  weeks  of  his 
life  at  Brussels,  showed  a  decision  following 
so  instantly  upon  perception,  that  his  mind 
was  unembarrassed  and  perfectly  at  ease. 
Caesar  is  recorded  to  have  hesitated  at  the 
point  of  decision  only  once,  and  then  but  for 
a  few  hours  on  the  banks  of  the  Eubicon ;  and 
this  may  have  been  to  test  his  generals. 

The  executive  must  have  the  power  to  con- 


64  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

centrate  attention,  to  think  things  through 
to  conclusion,  and  to  master  and  extermi- 
nate doubt.  Then,  by  act  of  will,  he  must 
decide;  and  show  that  his  shoulders  are 
broad  enough  to  bear  the  responsibility.  The 
first  requisite  in  the  executive,  therefore,  is 
the  power  of  decision. 

INITIATIVE 

Decision  insured,  the  next  question  is  the 
proper  time  for  it.  There  is  much  to  be 
found  in  the  literature  of  war  in  favor  of 
taking  the  initiative,  and  forcing  the  opposi- 
tion to  a  course  of  action  which  it  might  not 
otherwise  have  freely  chosen.  As  we  have 
seen,  Napoleon's  plan  was  to  concentrate, 
and  strike,  before  the  enemy  was  prepared. 
Jomini,  who  first  formulated  Napoleon's 
practice  into  a  system,  says :  "If  the  art  of 
war  consists  in  throwing  the  masses  upon 
the  decisive  points,  to  do  this  it  will  be  nec- 
essary to  take  the  initiative.  The  attacking 
party  knows  what  he  is  doing,  and  what  he 
desires  to  do;  and  he  leads  his  masses  to 
the  point  where  he  desires  to  strike.  He  who 
awaits  the  attack  is  everywhere  anticipated; 
the  enemy  fall  with  large  force  upon  frac- 
tions of  his  force;  he  neither  knows  where 


ADMINISTRATIVE  PRINCIPLES         65 

his  adversary  proposes  to  attack  him,  nor  in 
what  manner  to  repel  him.,, 

The  party  which  takes  the  initiative  can 
make  specific  preliminary  preparation  for 
what  is  next  to  happen;  while  the  party 
which  is  on  the  defensive  cannot  do  so.  The 
initiative  brings  one  to  the  decisive  point 
under  the  moral  headway  of  an  affirmative 
state  of  mind,  and  with  the  consciousness  of 
being  committed.  The  cultivation  of  the  in- 
itiative stimulates  activity.  As  the  late  Pro- 
fessor James  might  have  said,  by  acting  as  if 
one  possessed  courage,  courage  is  produced. 

It  was  the  historian  Livy  who  first  ob- 
served what  many  a  military  writer  has  since 
repeated:  "People's  apprehensions  are 
greater  in  proportion  as  things  are  un- 
known.'' The  initiative  lessens  apprehen- 
sion and  makes  the  decision  easy  in  two  ways 
— it  gives  us  other  occupation  than  forebod- 
ing and  it  reveals  in  the  true  state  of  things 
a  situation  better  than  that  imagined.  Ac- 
tive initiative  develops  the  habit  of  decision ; 
and  the  results  of  it  yield  us  the  greatest 
variety  of  experience,  not  only  of  others,  but 
of  ourselves  as  well. 

One  of  the  chief  advantages  of  the  policy 
of  taking  the  initiative  is  that  it  permits  the 


66  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

utilization  of  the  strategic  moment.  The  first 
operation  which  raised  Napoleon  to  fame  in- 
volved the  strategic  moment.  He  was  be- 
sieging Mantua,  and  the  Austrians,  sending 
a  relieving  army  south  from  the  Tyrol,  made 
the  mistake  of  dividing  it,  sending  a  column 
on  either  side  of  Lake  Garda.  The  lightning 
is  not  quicker  than  was  Napoleon  to  seize  the 
advantage  offered  him.  He  abandoned  the 
siege  of  Mantua,  and  attacked  first  one  and 
then  the  other  of  the  separated  armies,  be- 
fore they  could  unite,  driving  them  with 
great  loss  back  into  the  Tyrol.  He  who  takes 
the  initiative  has,  in  a  measure,  the  choice  of 
the  place,  the  time,  and  many  of  the  circum- 
stances of  action. 

PRELIMINARY  PLANNING 

Preliminary  planning  is  a  form  of  taking 
the  initiative;  it  is  distinguishable  from  it 
only  by  the  length  of  time  involved,  and  by 
the  degree  of  probability  that  what  is  done 
will  eventually  apply.  It  co-ordinates  itself 
perfectly  with  the  policy  of  taking  the  initia- 
tive, for,  as  we  have  seen,  only  that  can  be 
specifically  anticipated,  and  prepared  for, 
which  one  himself  initiates. 

As  the  current  power  of  an  organization, 


ADMINISTRATIVE   PRINCIPLES  67 

as  of  an  individual,  has  a  limit,  preliminary 
preparation  is  a  means  of  increasing  force; 
for  by  it  energy,  or  the  results  of  energy, 
may  be  stored  up,  ready  for  concentrated  de- 
livery at  the  desired  moment.  It  makes 
action  more  decisive  by  giving  a  sort  of 
strength  different  from  that  of  initiative ;  for 
it  provides  what  cannot  be  prepared  later, 
together  with  what  can  as  well  be  prepared 
in  advance. 

The  most  scientific  preparation  now  made 
for  any  form  of  human  activity  is  probably 
that  made  for  war  by  the  German  War  Acad- 
emy and  the  General  Staff.  The  Academy 
admits  young  officers,  on  efficiency  tests,  and 
completes  their  military  training.  It  covers 
not  only  the  subject  of  war,  in  all  its 
branches,  but  science  and  modern  languages. 
Formal  studies  are  supplemented  by  con- 
stant field  exercises  in  collecting  informa- 
tion, and  in  the  solution  of  practical  prob- 
lems, and  by  exercise  with  "war  games.' ' 

The  Staff  is  recruited  from  the  best  men 
who  pass  through  the  Academy.  Its  func- 
tions are  to  gather  information  about  all 
countries,  to  make  topographical  surveys,  to 
test  new  arms,  rations,  and  equipments,  to 
standardize  camp  and  supply  methods,  to 


68  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

compile  the  official  military  history,  to  plan 
mobilization,  and,  generally,  to  serve  as  the 
inventing,  organizing,  and  inspecting  author- 
ity of  the  army. 

The  results  of  German  wars  show  whether 
these  agencies  are  efficient  or  not.  In  the 
case  of  the  Austrian  war  of  1866,  in  fourteen 
days  from  the  declaration  of  hostilities, 
Prussia  was  in  possession  of  Hanover, 
Hesse-Cassel,  and  Saxony.  In  nineteen  days 
the  battle  of  Koniggratz,  which  decided  the 
war,  was  fought.  It  was  all  over  in  seven 
weeks.  Likewise  in  the  war  of  1870-71,  al- 
though France  confidently  expected  to  invade 
Germany,  she  found  herself  in  a  few  days 
fighting  an  invasion.  The  armies  of  France 
were  promptly  separated,  and  all  the  decisive 
work  was  over  again  in  seven  weeks.  In  that 
war  the  standardizations  were  so  accurate 
on  the  German  side,  and  the  agencies  of  cor- 
relation were  so  adequate,  that  there  was  no 
failure  of  the  center  to  keep  in  touch  with 
the  outposts.  There  was  no  failure  of  am- 
munition at  a  critical  time,  and  cases  were 
rare  of  troops  suffering  deprivation  from 
lack  of  food  or  supplies. 

These  institutions  are  the  embodiment  of 
two  comparatively  simple,  but  exceedingly 


ADMINISTRATIVE   PRINCIPLES  69 

fundamental,  principles  of  efficiency.  The 
first  is  vocational  training  for  all  persons 
placed  in  important  positions;  the  second  is 
the  compilation  of  all  useful  knowledge 
which  can  be  better  gained  in  advance,  by 
experts,  through  study,  than  later,  by  gen- 
eral executives,  through  action.  These  two 
institutions,  so  successful  in  making  Germany 
the  leading  military  nation  of  the  world, 
could  be  duplicated  by  us,  in  America,  as  in- 
dustrial institutions,  for  a  tithe  of  the  waste 
they  would  save,  and  would  exercise  the  most 
beneficent  effects  upon  the  general  welfare. 

SUBORDINATION  OF  DETAIL 

Military  history  has  passed  through  the 
stage  in  which  the  affairs  of  a  standard-sized 
army  can  be  controlled  in  matters  of  detail, 
as  well  as  in  matters  of  general  plan,  by  any 
one  person,  even  though  he  be  an  all-around 
genius.  Frederick's  kingdom  was  of  such 
small  size  that  he  could  keep  his  fingers  upon 
everything,  even  the  daily  culinary  arrange- 
ments of  the  royal  household.  Napoleon, 
with  matchless  celerity  in  work,  confessed 
that  he  fully  controlled  his  affairs  only  in 
the  short  period  of  his  prime.  Occasionally 
a  rare  mind  like  that  of  Frederick  or  of  Na- 


70  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

poleon  will  show  equal  facility  in  the  most 
extensive  plans  or  in  the  minutest  details, 
but  most  minds  lack  the  force  and  flexibility 
to  sustain  fresh  and  vigorous  action  on  so 
many  planes.  In  war  the  day  of  piling  up 
tasks  in  such  an  indiscriminate  manner  at 
headquarters  that  only  a  heaven-sent  genius 
can  insure  success,  passed  when  the  Germans 
began  the  application  of  the  principles  of 
administration  to  military  matters. 

It  is  clear  that  for  the  lodging  of  any  ad- 
ministrative function,  and  the  resting  of  the 
corresponding  responsibility,  there  must  be  a 
certain  ideal  point  in  the  administrative 
hierarchy  of  any  organization.  This  point  is 
where  the  problem  of  keeping  in  touch  with 
the  specific  details  of  the  agencies  of  the  ac- 
tion controlled  is  approximately  equal  in  dif- 
ficulty to  the  problem  of  keeping  in  touch 
with  the  general  plan  of  which  that  action  is 
a  part.  To  move  a  function  from  this  point 
towards  headquarters  is  to  lose  touch  with 
specific  conditions;  to  move  it  closer  to  the 
agencies  of  performance  is  to  lose  touch  with 
the  general  plan. 

As  organizations  grow,  one  function  after 
another  should  take  its  departure  from  head- 
quarters and  pass  down  the  line  of  adminis- 


ADMINISTRATIVE   PRINCIPLES  71 

tration,  drawn  to  lower  levels  by  the  neces- 
sity of  keeping  in  touch  with  local  condi- 
tions. The  definition  of  what  constitutes  de- 
tail for  an  officer,  in  a  growing  organization, 
expands.  Headquarters  gradually  change 
from  a  directing  into  a  co-ordinating  agency. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  a  superior  offi- 
cer, this  sifting  of  everything  to  its  proper 
level  is  the  problem  of  the  subordination  of 
detail.  The  man  of  capacity  often  errs  by 
working  with  energy  rather  than  intelli- 
gence; not  seeing  that  efficiency  does  not 
mean  alone  to  do  a  great  deal,  and  do  it  well, 
but  means  also  to  be  constantly  engaged 
upon  tasks  of  one's  calibre.  If  an  organiza- 
tion is  not  large  enough  to  keep  a  man  of 
talent  at  his  maximum  work,  the  permanent 
solution  is  not  to  allow  the  individual  tb  add 
lower  functions,  and  shade  out  the  subordi- 
nate executives,  but  to  use  this  surplus  talent 
for  attacking  the  most  important  difficulties 
which  restrain  growth,  so  that  with  the  in- 
crease in  the  size  of  the  organization  there 
will  come  abundance  of  the  proper  kind  of 
work. 

It  is  undoubtedly  a  fact  that  very  many  or- 
ganizations are  in  a  state  of  being  strangled 
by  undue  concentration  of  work  at  headquar- 


72  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

ters,  while  the  subordinate  ranks  are  soldier- 
ing. The  proper  place  for  deliberation,  and 
even  leisure,  is  where  the  far-reaching  deci- 
sions are  being  made. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  minor  offi- 
cial, the  proper  division  of  administrative 
functions  means  dignifying  him  in  the  eyes 
of  those  over  whom  he  is  set.  Stimulus 
comes  from  the  opportunity  to  do  a  task 
large  enough  to  arouse  the  interest ;  and  effi- 
ciency, from  the  freedom  to  bring  one's  per- 
sonality to  bear  in  a  manner  harmonious 
with  its  nature.  Well  scattered  responsibil- 
ity sobers  and  settles  a  force  of  executives, 
and  develops  and  seasons  their  talents;  for 
individual  character  is  not  developed  by  im- 
agining responsibility,  but  by  actually  carry- 
ing it. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  good  policy  to  push  de- 
centralization and  discriminating  deputizing 
somewhat  ahead  of  the  needs  of  the  imme- 
diate situation,  with  a  view  to  the  advance 
preparation  of  those  agencies  which  growth 
will  require.  The  progress  of  an  organiza- 
tion is  largely  due  to  the  ambitious  upward 
pressure  of  the  ranks  below.  Judicious  lib- 
erty will  increase  this  pressure,  and  form  a 
prime  means  of  insuring  the  future. 


ADMINISTRATIVE   PRINCIPLES  73 

DISCIPLINE 

The  preceding  discussion  may  suggest  the 
fear  that  freedom  of  individual  action  will 
destroy  discipline.  The  object  of  discipline 
is  concert  of  action.  The  efficiency  of  it  de- 
pends upon  developing  in  a  body  of  men  such 
confidence  on  the  part  of  each  individual  that 
every  other  person  will  play  his  part,  that 
expenditure  of  energy  to  make  sure  of  this  is 
saved,  and  the  full  force  of  each  is  free  to  be 
expended  in  doing  his  own  work. 

The  amount  of  freedom  which  is  com- 
patible with  discipline  depends  not  only  upon 
preliminary  practice,  and  action  made  sec- 
ond nature,  as  in  the  drill  of  the  parade 
ground,  but  it  depends  upon  the  quality  of 
the  human  material  involved.  Upon  this  de- 
pends what  will  appeal,  and  so  what  means 
must  be  used  to  make  harmony  of  action 
doubly  secure. 

On  its  lowest  plane,  discipline  is  a  train- 
ing of  instinct  which  insures  a  step-by-step 
compliance  with  a  series  of  acts,  which  are 
means  to  an  unexplained  end.  On  its  highest 
plane,  it  is  such  enthusiasm  for  the  end,  that 
the  full  use  of  the  powers  of  each  individual, 
in  choosing  the  wisest  steps  to  attain  it,  may 
be  depended  upon.    The  great  point  is  that 


74  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

these  different  planes  tend  to  be  mutually 
exclusive;  so  that  it  is  of  the  greatest  mo- 
ment to  choose  that  form  of  discipline  which 
best  agrees  with  the  nature  of  the  circum- 
stances, and  of  the  end  in  view. 

CONCENTRATION  TO  SECURE  SUCCESS 

An  analogy  is  suggested  between  Napole- 
on's practice  of  concentrating  the  masses  of 
his  troops  to  attain  superiority  at  the  point 
of  contact  with  the  enemy,  and  similar  poli- 
cies in  industrial  affairs.  This  rule  of  at- 
tacking the  opposition  piecemeal,  with  one's 
full  force,  is  described  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Taylor 
in  his  "Shop  Management. ' '  He  says  (p. 
144) :  "It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
the  first  combined  application  of  time  study, 
slide  rules,  instruction  cards,  functional 
foremanship,  and  a  premium  for  a  large 
daily  task  should  prove  a  success,  both  for 
the  workmen  and  for  the  company,  and  for 
this  reason  a  simple  class  of  work  should  be 
chosen  for  a  start.  The  entire  efforts  of  the 
new  management  should  be  centered  on  one 
point,  and  continued  there  until  unqualified 
success  has  been  attained.' f  .  .  .  "Thus," 
continued  Napoleon,  ' 1 1  beat  it  in  detail,  and 
the  victory  which  was  the  result  was  always, 


ADMINISTRATIVE  PRINCIPLES  ?5 

as  you  see,  the  triumph  of  the  larger  over 
the  lesser. " 

Nor  must  the  effect  of  success  upon  the 
spirit  of  resolve  in  the  individual,  and  upon 
the  morale  of  a  group,  be  forgotten.  To  in- 
duce a  body  of  human  beings  to  exert  their 
powers,  in  combined  action,  with  some  degree 
of  completeness,  the  aims  must  be  worthy, 
they  must  be  joint  aims,  in  which  all  share, 
the  relation  between  the  work  of  each  and 
the  realization  of  the  aims  must  be  clear,  and 
there  must  be  faith  that  success  will  be 
achieved. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  more  precarious 
the  prospects  of  an  organization  are,  the 
more  essential  it  is  that  a  series  of  successes 
should  be  achieved,  even  though  it  be  com- 
posed of  very  small  ones.  The  position  of  a 
captain  of  industry,  who  has  but  a  slight  hold 
upon  the  public  through  advertising,  and 
who  must  deal  with  an  unstable  body  of 
stockholders,  is  somewhat  similar  to  the  po- 
sition of  Wellington  in  Spain,  who  dared  not 
run  any  avoidable  risks  for  fear  a  defeat 
would  cost  him  the  support  of  the  govern- 
ment at  home. 


THE   ADMINISTRATOR   AS  A 
SCIENTIST 

Chapter  V 
THE    PIONEERS    OF   SCIENCE 

THOUGHT  and  action  should  be  closely- 
connected  in  every  sound  program  of 
life.  It  is  true  that  they  have  been  called 
opposite  and  even  antagonistic  forms  of  self- 
expression,  as  when  Goethe  said,  "Thought 
expands,  but  lames ;  action  animates,  but  nar- 
rows/ '  The  same  idea,  with  poetical  embel- 
lishments, appears  when  Hamlet  says : 

Conscience  does  make  cowards  of  us  all; 
And  thus  the  native  hue  of  resolution 
Is  sicklied  o'er  with  the  pale  cast  of  thought, 
And  enterprises  of  great  pith  and  moment, 
With  this  regard,  their  currents  turn  awry, 
And  lose  the  name  of  action. 

These  expressions  emphasize  the  difficulty 
of  maintaining  a  just  balance  between  the 

77 


78  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

two  things.  But  when  neither  is  allowed  to 
become  nnduly  dominant,  they  exert  upon 
each  other  a  mutually  developmental  and 
mutually  corrective  influence.  In  reality, 
thought  and  action  are  different  phases  or 
stages  of  one  complete  act  of  self-expression. 
Great  men  of  action  have  usually  been 
strong  thinkers.  Their  action  has  been 
known  because  it  has  been  performed  in  pub- 
lic; their  thinking  has  been  in  private.  In 
the  few  short  months  during  which  Julius 
Caesar  possessed  supreme  power  at  Kome, 
he  introduced  so  many  and  such  far-reaching 
and  skilfully  co-ordinated  changes  in  the  mili- 
tary, political,  and  religious  administration 
of  the  Empire,  as  to  make  it  morally  certain 
that  he  had  spent  much  time,  during  his 
Gallic  campaigns,  in  deep  thinking  on  future 
problems.  The  great  administrator  is  able  to 
unlimber  and  deploy  his  mental  resources 
promptly,  at  the  critical  moment,  because  he 
has  them  well  classified,  and  under  good  dis- 
cipline. He  acts  with  full  energy  because  he 
has  driven  his  mental  processes  through  to 
a  thoroughly  established  and  firmly  believed 
conclusion.  This  deep  and  firm  conclusion 
may  be  said  to  give  him  the  unanimous  con- 
sent of  all  his  faculties  to  the  proposed  ac- 


PIONEERS   OF    SCIENCE  79 

tion — and  thus  he  puts  all  of  himself  into 
what  he  does. 

Administration  as  Thinking 

If  administration  can  be  denned  as  the  art 
of  controlling  the  joint  actions  of  a  group  of 
reasoning  beings,  by  means  of  the  systematic 
communication  of  certain  thoughts  and  states 
of  mind  from  one  to  another,  it  is  obvious 
that  it  is  chiefly  a  matter  of  mental  labor. 
The  root  of  the  administrator's  power  is  that 
he  compels  other  men  to  think  certain 
thoughts  after  him.  He  paralyzes  their  ac- 
tion in  certain  directions,  not  by  orders, — 
that  is,  not  fundamentally  by  orders, — but  by 
compelling  them  to  think  shame  and  futility 
connected  with  those  lines  of  conduct.  He 
energizes  them  in  other  directions  by  making 
them  think  of  opportunity,  reward,  happi- 
ness, and  honor.  The  executive  who  can  get 
only  eye-service  or  hand-service,  while  the 
minds  of  his  co-workers  are  alienated  from 
him,  is  a  failure.  Administration  is  a  think- 
ing job.  The  heart  of  it  is  clear-cut,  force- 
ful thinking. 

It  is  essential,  therefore,  that  administra- 
tors, and  such  as  aspire  to  be  administrators, 
should  inquire  as  to  the  principles  of  effi- 


80  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

ciency  in  thinking.  How  is  it  that  some  men 
have  managed  to  collect  evidence  on  matters 
which  have  eluded  the  observation  of  others 
throughout  all  history?  How  have  some 
men  managed  to  express  themselves  so  that 
no  intelligent  person  can  mistake  their  mean- 
ing, and  so  that  others  separated  from  them 
by  time  and  distance  have  been  able  to  build 
upon  their  work  with  perfect  security  of  un- 
derstanding? How  have  they  attained  to 
originality,  not  by  flashes  only,  but  uni- 
formly? How  have  they  contrived  to  make 
even  failures  teach  them,  so  that  failures 
have  been  transformed  into  installments  of 
success  ? 

Science  as  Thinking 

If  industry  is  the  chief  exponent  of  mod- 
ern action,  it  is  without  question  that  science 
is  the  leading  exponent  of  modern  thought. 
What  results  may  be  expected  for  the  human 
race  when  these  two  things  shall  work  to- 
gether harmoniously  and  intimately !  Science 
has  devised  the  most  rigid  known  tests  of 
validity,  has  perfected  an  accurate  terminol- 
ogy for  recording  its  results,  and  has  given 
to  its  treasures  the  most  systematic  arrange- 
ment for  revealing  the  significance  of  the 


PIONEERS  OF   SCIENCE  81 

ideas.  Science  has  devised  the  thought- 
sequences  most  efficient  in  investigation,  and 
has  discovered  the  most  salutary  safeguards 
and  warnings  for  avoiding  error.  The  his- 
tory of  science,  therefore,  offers  a  field  of 
study  rich  in  significance  for  the  student  of 
administration. 

Business  men  think  of  science  in  various 
ways.  To  one  it  means,  chiefly,  laboratories 
full  of  complicated  apparatus  for  delicate  and 
accurate  physical  manipulations,  and  alto- 
gether too  slow  and  expensive  for  use  in 
commercial  production.  Another  thinks  of 
science  as  a  system  of  text-books  and  teach- 
ers and  teaching,  having  a  place  somewhere 
in  high-school  and  university  programs,  to 
convince  young  people  that  things  do  not 
happen  without  a  cause.  Another  is  re- 
minded of  various  striking  results  of  re- 
search which,  from  time  to  time,  have  stirred 
popular  imagination,  such  as  the  X-ray,  or 
artificial  rubies,  or  the  idea  of  the  progress 
of  the  solar  system  through  the  heavens. 
One  may,  perhaps,  venture  to  say  that  the 
usual  significance  of  science  to  the  business 
executive  is  a  more  or  less  uncertain  and  im- 
practical kind  of  investigation  which,  from 
time  to  time,  hits  upon  a  new  raw  material 


82  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

of  value,  or  devises  a  new  process  of  physi- 
cal manipulation,  or  a  new  instrument  of 
precision,  capable,  with  much  modification, 
of  being  used  in  business.  Without  belittling 
any  one  of  the  above  mentioned  aspects,  it 
can  be  emphatically  asserted  that  the  signifi- 
cance of  science  to  the  modern  administrator 
lies  overwhelmingly  in  its  record  of  mental 
methods — in  the  light  which  it  can  throw 
upon  the  principles  of  efficient  thinking. 

Let  us  examine  this  history  very  briefly, 
looking  at  it  from  a  special  point  of  view. 
Let  us  consider  it  as  a  record  of  ways  and 
means,  or  as  a  test  of  brains,  rather  than  as 
a  mass  of  results ;  trusting  that  if  a  few  sug- 
gestions of  value  can  be  found,  the  reader 
may  be  induced  to  continue  the  study  for 
himself,  to  the  end  that,  in  this  study,  he 
may  find  a  means  of  developing  the  power  of 
judging  thought  processes,  as  one,  through 
shop  training,  develops  the  power  of  judging 
the  fitness  of  physical  processes. 

The  Problem  of  Origins 

"When  we  take  up  the  history  of  science,  a 
question  of  the  first  importance  at  once  con- 
fronts us.  What  first  started  men  to  think 
in  the  accurate,  searching  fashion  essential 


PIONEERS   OF   SCIENCE  83 

to  the  construction  of  science!  Can  we, 
through  the  study  of  the  origins  of  science, 
discover  the  conditions  which  must  be  pro- 
vided, if  we  wish  an  individual,  or  an  indus- 
try, or  a  neighborhood,  to  attain  the  efficiency 
of  science  in  its  productive  activities? 

The  record  of  science  covers  only  some 
seven  hundred  years  of  the  six  thousand  or 
more  of  recorded  history.  In  those  centuries 
it  concerns  but  a  minute  fraction  of  the  hu- 
man race  then  existing.  It  has,  therefore,  to 
do  with  a  rare  and  exceptional  kind  of  hu- 
man activity.  The  history  is  strangely  di- 
vided into  two  periods,  with  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  lying  between.  The  first  division 
of  it  is  the  story  of  the  Greek  mind,  from 
600  to  300  B.  C,  the  second  extends  from  the 
sixteenth  century  to  the  present  time.  We 
have,  therefore,  two  origins  to  examine,  and 
to  bring  into  comparison. 

The  Science  of  Greece 

In  the  seventh  and  sixth  centuries  B.  C. 
that  most  keen-witted  and  audacious  of  an- 
cient peoples,  the  Hellenes,  founded  many 
colonies,  and  spread  themselves  out  so  wide- 
ly along  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  that, 
in  maintaining  intercourse,  the  arts  of  navi- 


84  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

gation  became  considerably  improved,  and 
trade  was  enlarged  and  systematized.  As  a 
result  of  the  enslavement  of  less  powerful 
peoples,  and  of  the  accumulation  of  wealth 
in  the  chief  cities,  the  upper  classes  were 
gradually  relieved  from  the  pressure  of  ne- 
cessity, and  given  the  leisure  to  think. 
Travel,  and  the  exchange  of  reports  concern- 
ing different  countries  and  peoples,  broad- 
ened the  intellectual  horizon  of  these  favored 
city-dwellers;  while  the  practice  of  making 
comparisons  stimulated  them  to  consider  at- 
tentively points  of  similarity  and  difference. 
The  contact  with  Egypt  was  particularly  sig- 
nificant to  them,  for  it  revealed  the  surpris- 
ing fact  that  an  orderly  history,  completely 
under  human  control,  and  free  from  super- 
natural occurrences,  had  there  been  recorded 
during  the  ages  when  Greek  mythology  as- 
serted that  the  world  was  overrun  with  gods 
and  goddesses.  This  revelation  produced  a 
keen  interest  in  travel,  and  in  descriptions 
of  the  geography,  manners,  and  customs  of 
foreign  countries.  An  attitude  of  suspicion 
was  developed  toward  inherited  beliefs,  which 
finally  led  inquiring  minds  to  make  a  clean 
sweep  of  legendary  and  traditional  explana- 
tions of  the  universe,  and  to  seek,  by  means 


PIONEERS   OF   SCIENCE  85 

of  observation  and  reasoning,  to  construct  a 
new  and  more  adequate  explanation  of  na- 
ture, and  of  the  forces  governing  conduct. 

The  wars  which  the  Greek  cities  waged 
constantly  among  themselves  compelled  them 
to  study  human  nature  incessantly ;  while  the 
ever-present  uncertainty  of  fortune  made 
talent  and  sound  leadership  highly  prized, 
and  emphasized  the  value  of  courage  and 
strenuous  activity.  Whenever,  as  a  result  of 
class  struggles,  it  happened  that  tyrants  rose 
to  power,  amassed  fortunes,  and  strove,  by 
luxury  and  the  lavish  patronage  of  the  arts, 
to  make  men  forget  their  humble  origins,  the 
examples  thus  created  served  only  to  stir 
envy  and  arouse  ambition.  These  successes 
of  individuals  furnished  proof  of  the  control 
man  could  exercise  over  destiny.  In  this  dra- 
matic and  ever-changing  life,  conventional 
interpretations  were  continually  breaking 
down.  Inquiring  minds  were  continually 
thrown  upon  their  own  resources,  and  taught 
to  confront  the  unknown  universe  of  forces 
around  them  with  something  of  the  same 
boldness  and  aggressiveness  which  men  used 
in  dealing  with  each  other. 

And  so  it  happened  that  there  arose,  even- 
tually, about  650  B.  C,  a  man  who,  through 


86  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

extensive  travel  and  a  long  life  as  merchant, 
statesman,  engineer,  mathematician,  and  as- 
tronomer, gathered  a  rich  store  of  knowledge. 
By  somewhat  systematizing  his  ideas,  and 
persistently  communicating  them  to  others, 
this  man  became  the  father  of  science.  Such 
was  Thales.  And  so  also,  shortly  after  him, 
Anaximander,  a  subtle  observer  of  analogies, 
and  the  first  maker  of  maps,  was  led  to  set 
down  in  writing  his  observations  on  nature, 
and  to  bring  into  existence  the  first  Greek 
manuscript  on  science. 

The  sixth  century  was  like  the  seventh,  still 
a  period  of  origins.  Pythagoras  studied  the 
length  and  pitch  of  musical  strings,  and 
formulated  a  somewhat  mystical  theory  of 
numbers.  Hecataeus  was  the  first  of  a  long 
line  of  writers  to  throw  doubt  upon  the 
myths  of  history. 

The  fifth  century  saw  the  climax  of  Greek 
learning.  In  it  Herodotus,*' the  Father  of 
History,  carried  forward  the  work  of  sifting 
tradition,  while  Thucydides,  who  followed 
him,  tested  with  care  the  facts  he  used,  and 
looked  upon  history  in  a  very  modern  way, 
not  as  the  story  of  gods  and  heroes,  but  as 
the  record  of  natural  forces  and  human  pas- 
sions.   Heraclitus,  who  led  the  way  in  philo- 


PIONEERS   OF   SCIENCE  87 

sophical  criticism,  groped  vaguely  toward  the 
conception  of  a  universal  reign  of  law,  while 
Democritus,  his  scholar,  hit  upon  the  theory 
of  matter  as  composed  of  atoms  in  a  state  of^ 
ceaseless  motion.  To  this  age  belongs,  also, 
Hippocrates,  the  Father  of  Medicine,  and  the 
leader  of  a  band  of  practitioners  who,  under 
the  impulse  of  high  professional  ideals,  were 
investigators  as  well,  and  in  their  writings 
were  not  ashamed  to  record  their  failures  as 
well  as  their  successes.  The  manuscripts  left 
by  these  men  upon  the  muscles  and  the  joints, 
and  upon  medicines,  diet,  and  specific  dis- 
eases, form  collectively  the  most  systematic 
body  of  scientific  knowledge  bequeathed  by 
Greece  to  later  generations.  These  thinkers, 
and  many  others,  adorned  an  age  the  central 
figure  of  which  was  Socrates,  the  bare-footed 
questioning  sage  of  the  market-places  of 
Athens.  This  great  and  good  man  contin- 
ually sought  practice  in  the  art  of  reasoning, 
debating  quietly  and  candidly  with  all  who 
would  participate  with  him.  With  an  ever- 
burning enthusiasm  for  truth  and  virtue,  Soc- 
rates seized  every  occasion  to  teach  those 
about  him  how  to  give  words  definite  mean- 
ings, and  how  to  make  their  concepts  clear. 
He  endeavored  to  train  men  in  reasoning,  be- 


88  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

cause  he  believed  that  whoever  could  think 
clearly  would  ultimately  arrive  at  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  superiority  of  right  actions. 

The  intellectual  activities  of  Athens,  at  its 
best  period,  under  Pericles,  possessed  a  truly 
remarkable  range.  Everywhere  knowledge 
and  technical  skill  was  in  demand.  Geogra- 
phy and  astronomy,  natural  history  and  agri- 
culture were  studied,  architecture  and  city 
planning  were  improved,  physical  culture 
was  reduced  to  system,  grammar  and  rhet- 
oric had  their  origins,  oratory  was  made  an 
essential  of  a  public  career,  and  the  art  of 
war  was  given  new  rules.  Science  became 
the  vogue  with  crowds  of  persons  who  de- 
manded superficial  learning  as  a  social  asset. 

The  fourth  century  was  both  an  advance 
and  a  decline.  In  it  Plato  composed  the  fa- 
mous Dialogs,  in  which  he  elaborated  with 
poetical  power  the  different  phases  of  the 
teachings  of  Socrates.  Toward  the  close  of 
this  century,  Aristotle,  the  greatest  mind  of 
antiquity,  and  the  one  whom  Dante  has  called, 
"The  Master  of  Those  Who  Know,"  passed 
in  review  everything  which  had  been  done. 
Bringing  philosophy  and  science  together,  he 
gave  to  them  the  most  systematic  form  then 
possible.      "The    Aristotelian    element    in 


PIONEERS   OF   SCIENCE  89 

thought  and  knowledge,' '  says  Sir  Alex. 
Grant,  "may,  perhaps,  be  summed  up  as  ana- 
lytic insight;  and  this  insight  arises  out  of 
concentration  of  the  mind  upon  the  subject 
in  hand,  marshalling  together  all  the  facts 
and  opinions  attainable  upon  it,  and  dwell- 
ing on  these,  and  scrutinizing  and  comparing 
them  till  a  light  flashes  on  the  whole  sub- 
ject. Such  is  the  procedure  which  may  be 
learnt  by  imitation  from  Aristotle."  Not 
only  did  Aristotle  describe  and  practice  in- 
duction, but  he  gave  in  his  writings  so  per- 
fect a  description  of  deductive  reasoning, 
that  little  of  importance  has  since  been  added 
to  it. 

The  fourth  century,  however,  ignored  the 
emphasis  placed  by  Aristotle  upon  experi- 
ence and  observation.  The  great  demand  for 
popular  knowledge  led  to  the  rise  of  a  class 
of  professional  teachers,  called  Sophists, 
which  preferred  brilliant  superficial  generali- 
zation to  the  drudgery  of  examining  facts. 
The  Greek  mind  (always  prone  to  sweeping 
conclusions  and  rhetorical  embellishments), 
when  it  lost  its  simplicity  and  seriousness  of 
purpose,  soon  entangled  itself  in  the  meshes 
of  unprofitable  metaphysical  speculation. 
This  was  illustrated,  after  the  middle  of  the 


90  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

fourth  century,  by  the  disputes  of  the  Stoics 
and  Epicureans. 

There  were,  however,  other  reasons  why 
the  light  of  science  died  out.  With  the  rise 
of  the  Macedonian  empire,  the  Greek  cities 
lost  their  freedom,  and  with  it  their  courage 
and  independence  of  thinking.  The  great 
empire  conquered  by  Alexander  in  the  east 
opened  opportunities  for  enterprising  per- 
sons to  make  their  fortunes  as  administra- 
tors, military  leaders,  or  teachers.  The  more 
active  individuals  became  scattered  through 
these  vast  eastern  domains,  and  lost  the 
touch  with  each  other  which  was  necessary 
to  continue  the  construction  of  a  systematic 
body  of  knowledge.  The  Athenian  schools 
were  abandoned,  and  the  nucleus  of  thinking 
was  destroyed.  With  the  founding  of  Alex- 
andria, Athens  lost  her  place  as  the  leading 
intellectual  city  of  the  world. 

Alexandrine  Era 

A  word  may  be  said  to  bridge  the  transi- 
tion from  ancient  to  modern  science.  It  was 
in  many  ways  fortunate  that  Alexander  scat- 
tered Greek  culture  over  Asia  Minor  and  into 
Egypt,  for  by  so  doing  he  prepared  the  way 
for  the  Eoman  empire  of  the  East.    And, 


PIONEERS  OF  SCIENCE  91 

furthermore,  since  Europe  was  soon  to  be 
made  hostile  to  " pagan' '  learning,  by  the 
rise  of  Christianity,  and  to  be  thrown  back 
into  a  primitive  state  of  culture  by  the  bar- 
barian invasions,  Alexander,  by  spreading 
what  was  known  of  mathematics  and  astron- 
omy and  medicine  through  eastern  and  south- 
ern countries,  brought  this  knowledge  to  the 
attention  of  the  keen  Hebrew  mind,  and  threw 
it  in  the  way  of  the  Mohammedan  invaders. 
These  races,  prizing  the  precious  heritage, 
carried  it  with  them  across  northern  Africa 
and  into  Spain,  and  preserved  it  during  the 
Middle  Ages,  until  the  awakening  of  the  six- 
teenth century  permitted  its  introduction  into 
Christian  Europe. 

The  Middle  Ages  were  absorbed  in  civiliz- 
ing the  barbarians.  They  were  full  of  the 
turbulence  incident  to  the  establishing  of 
governments.  Their  thought  was  dominated 
by  tradition,  as  represented  by  the  Church 
and  the  Holy  Eoman  Empire.  The  doctrine 
of  human  depravity,  drilled  into  studious 
minds  by  the  Church,  dampened  the  ardor 
of  those  gifted  persons  who  might  have  led 
their  age.  They  learned  to  look  upon  human 
nature  and  the  natural  world  with  contempt 
and  despair,  as  the  abiding  places  of  evil. 


92  business  administration 

Renaissance 
The  Middle  Ages  were  brought  to  an  end, 
and  modern  history  was  inaugurated,  by  a 
gradual  increase  in  the  restlessness  and  bold- 
ness of  thinking.  The  fermentation  of  ideas 
became  general  with  the  dissemination  of  the 
knowledge  carried  into  Europe  by  the  return- 
ing crusaders.  It  was  promoted  by  the  po- 
litical contests  in  which  political  rulers  began 
to  cast  off  the  control  of  the  church,  and  by 
which  the  rising  spirit  of  nationality  repudi- 
ated the  idea  of  subordination  to  a  universal 
empire.  It  made  itself  felt  in  everyday  af- 
fairs when  the  merchants  of  the  northern 
cities  demanded  freedom  and  protection  for 
trade,  and  opposed  experience  to  dogma  in 
refuting  the  Church's  condemnation  of  inter- 
est-taking. When  thus  the  foundations  of 
thought  were  already  loosened,  there  came  to 
Europe,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  from  the 
west,  the  news  of  the  dramatic  episodes  of 
the  geographical  discoveries.  All  minds 
were  thrilled.  At  the  same  time,  there  came 
from  the  east  (brought  with  the  scholars 
driven  out  when  Constantinople  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Turks),  the  brave  thoughts  of 
the  classical  writers  of  Greece  and  Eome. 
Under  this  double  spur,  with  the  mysterious 


PIONEERS   OP   SCIENCE  93 

new  world  beckoning  men  of  action,  and  the 
no  less  mysterious  treasures  of  the  past  beck- 
oning men  of  scholarly  inclination,  the  new 
spirit  of  freedom  at  last  burst  all  restraining 
bonds.  Liberated  from  narrow  ideas,  as  from 
a  prison,  men  dared  again  to  look  upon  the 
world  as  a  home  given  the  human  race  to 
subdue  and  enjoy,  and  upon  human  nature  as 
a  thing  with  a  noble  history  and  inspiring 
possibilities. 

To  the  generation  which,  at  the  close  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  was  just  emerging  from 
a  long  bondage  to  priest  and  prince,  to 
authority  and  dogma,  the  long-lost  record  of 
the  ancient  nations  was  a  powerful  tonic. 
This  rediscovered  learning  displayed  the  full 
record  of  human  heroism  and  achievement, 
for  the  first  time,  to  the  men  of  the  Kenais- 
sance.  It  was  a  call  to  freedom;  a  demand 
for  intellectual  elbow-room;  a  reassertion  of 
the  right  to  think.  It  aroused  in  them  a  de- 
termination to  emulate  the  past,  and  become 
the  masters  of  their  own  destinies.  The  vast 
stretches  of  the  newly-discovered  continents, 
meantime,  served  as  a  fit  stage  for  any  mag- 
nificent drama  the  imagination  could  con- 
struct. These  things  gave  to  man  a  new 
dignity.    They  revealed  the  arts  and  sciences 


94  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

as  the  beneficent  handmaids  of  culture,  and 
they  affirmed  that  noble  living  was  as  much 
the  bringing  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth, 
as  the  laying  up  of  treasures  in  Heaven.  The 
new  spirit  created  a  human  sentiment  which 
destroyed  old  customs  and  created  new  ones. 
It  issued  in  a  transformed  literature  and  a 
new  architecture  and  art.  By  turning  in- 
quiry upon  religious  creeds,  it  brought  on, 
at  length,  the  Reformation  and  the  Counter- 
reformation. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  an  age  which 
looked  into  everything  with  such  fresh  and 
fearless  eyes,  which  realized  that  gunpowder 
had  made  a  new  equality  among  men,  which 
in  the  spread  of  new  ideas  had  a  constant 
illustration  of  the  value  of  the  discovery  of 
printing,  and  which  saw  new  continents  dis- 
covered, should  have  beheld  the  physical 
earth  with  a  new  respect,  and  have  turned 
with  a  new  attentiveness  toward  the  study 
of  nature's  laws. 

The  Pioneebs  op  Science 

Scientific  study  was  taken  up  where  Ptol- 
emy the  astronomer,  and  Galen  the  physi- 
cian, and  Archimedes  the  mechanic  had  left 
it.     The  collecting  of  manuscripts  was  re- 


PIONEERS  OF  SCIENCE  95 

sumed  where  the  scholars  of  Alexandria  had 
dropped  it  when  their  great  library  was 
burned  in  640  A.  D.  The  experiments  in 
chemistry  were  resumed  where  the  alchemists 
had  abandoned  them  in  their  fruitless  search 
for  gold.  In  the  sciences  having  to  do  with 
human  conduct,  Machiavelli  sought  for  rules 
of  government  in  the  writings  of  Livy.  Gro- 
tius  resumed  the  work  of  the  Eoman  jurists, 
as  did  also  Vico,  when  he  asked  why  there 
was  not  a  science  of  history  analogous  to  the 
science  of  nature. 

The  events  which  led  to  the  re-inaugura- 
tion of  scientific  study  by  no  means  made 
it  safe  or  easy;  they  simply  aroused  certain 
courageous  souls  to  brave  the  difficulties  ly- 
ing in  the  way.  One  of  these  difficulties  was 
the  mixture  of  good  and  evil  in  the  liberating 
movement  itself.  All  reforms  suffer  from 
those  who  destroy  balance  and  proportion  by 
excess,  as  well  as  from  those  who  destroy  it 
by  deficiency.  The  Eenaissance  in  many 
ways  discredited  itself.  It  not  only  revived 
the  knowledge  of  pagan  nations,  but  it 
brought  into  practice  again  many  of  their 
vices  and  brutalities.  It  soon  produced,  also, 
a  group  of  servile  imitators  of  the  ancient 
writers  who,  like  the  Greek  sophists,  smoth- 


96  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

ered  learning  in  pedantry,  and  offered  to  the 
hungry  intelligence  of  the  age  a  spurious 
product,  elegant  but  inane. 

Another  hindrance  to  science,  which  was 
much  increased  by  this  weakness,  was  the 
perplexity  of  mind  and  anguish  of  soul  into 
which  all  were  plunged  who  had  the  temerity 
to  move  on,  in  their  thinking,  in  advance  of 
their  times.  The  legend  of  Faust  typifies  the 
struggle  of  those  pioneers  of  science  who 
alternated  between  hours  of  passionate  as- 
piration after  truth,  and  periods  of  con- 
science-stricken doubt  as  to  the  sanity  and 
morality  of  their  own  actions  in  defying  con- 
stituted authority.  When  chemistry  was  yet 
alchemy,  and  astronomy  had  not  yet  distin- 
guished itself  from  astrology,  to  possess  un- 
usual knowledge  of  nature,  or  to  be  able  to 
do  things  not  easily  explained,  meant,  to  the 
majority  of  men,  to  be  in  criminal  league  with 
the  powers  of  darkness.  The  mixture  of  fear 
and  scorn  in  which  the  pioneers  of  science 
were  held  prolonged  and  intensified  the 
mental  struggles  through  which  they  were 
called  to  pass ;  for  no  man  can  entirely  resist 
viewing  himself  in  the  light  in  which  he  is 
conscious  that  the  community  in  general  con- 
siders him. 


PIONEERS   OF   SCIENCE  97 

But  there  were  other  dangers  of  a  more 
palpable  nature  threatening  the  pioneers  of 
independent  thinking.  So  long  as  the  new 
movement  of  ideas  concerned  itself  with  liter- 
ature and  the  arts,  with  manuscripts  and 
manners,  the  conservative  forces  of  society 
looked  upon  it  with  indulgence,  and  even  with 
sympathy.  But  when  it  began  to  question 
the  earth's  primacy  among  the  heavenly  bod- 
ies, and  so  indirectly  to  attack  the  idea  that 
the  earth  is  the  chief  concern  of  the  Deity; 
and  when  it  began  to  announce,  as  facts,  mat- 
ters which  could  not  be  harmonized  with  the 
account  of  creation  given  in  Genesis,  the  revo- 
lutionary nature  of  the  new  inquiries  was 
perceived  by  princes  spiritual  and  temporal, 
and  preparations  were  made  to  stop  them. 
The  ecclesiastical  hierarchy  and  the  Inquisi- 
tion, backed  as  they  were  in  most  countries 
by  the  political  authorities,  possessed  the 
power  to  make  a  man  a  moral  leper  in  his 
community,  by  pronouncing  him  a  heretic, 
and  to  thrust  his  works  into  despised  ob- 
livion by  means  of  the  Index  Expurgatorius. 
And,  if  these  means  were  not  sufficient,  there \ 
were  the  rack,  the  prison,  and  the  stake,  as 
the  ultimate  weapons.  The  Kenaissance  be- 
gan as  a  spring-time  of  joyous  awakening, 


98  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

but  it  brought  at  last  not  peace  but  a  sword, 
and  employed  it  in  persecution  as  well  as 
in  warfare. 

And  so  we  find  a  record  of  heroism — the 
usual  price  paid  for  a  precious  liberty.  Roger 
Bacon,  a  man  born  long  out  of  time,  spent 
twenty-five  years  of  his  life  in  prison,  to 
atone  for  his  researches  in  chemistry.  Co- 
pernicus, the  Polish  priest-astronomer,  for- 
bidden to  speak  in  public  upon  science,  hid 
his  discoveries  for  thirty-six  years,  fearing 
the  charge  of  heresy.  Only  upon  his  death- 
bed did  he  see  a  copy  of  the  book,  in  the 
preparation  of  which  his  life  had  been  spent. 
Bruno  was  burned  at  the  stake  in  Rome,  in 
the  year  1600,  for  his  views  of  nature.  It 
was  not  until  1611  that  the  last  man  was 
burned  on  English  soil  for  independent  think- 
ing. Galileo  was  compelled,  by  threat  of  the 
rack,  to  recant ;  and  was  kept,  during  the  lat- 
ter part  of  his  life,  in  seclusion  and  semi- 
imprisonment.  Grotius,  the  father  of  inter- 
national law,  was  condemned  to  life  imprison- 
ment. He  escaped  his  jailors  only  through 
the  strategy  of  his  wife,  who  smuggled  him 
out  in  a  box  of  books.  Lavoisier  was  guillo- 
tined in  1794  by  a  government  which  said  it 
had  no  use  for  scientists.    And  in  the  same 


PIONEERS   OF   SCIENCE  99 

year,  Priestley  was  driven  by  persecution 
from  England  to  America. 

To  the  age  of  the  pioneers  belong,  in  as- 
tronomy, Copernicus,  who  asserted  that  the 
sun  and  not  the  earth  is  the  center  of  the 
solar  system;  Tycho  Brahe,  the  eccentric 
Danish  nobleman  who,  with  royal  patronage, 
inaugurated  modern  observatory  methods  on 
a  grand  scale ;  Kepler,  who  had  the  patience 
to  test  his  brilliant  theories  by  years  of 
mathematical  drudgery;  and  Galileo,  who 
mapped  the  heavens  with  a  telescope  which 
would  now  excite  the  ridicule  of  a  county 
fair.  In  physics  and  chemistry,  the  pioneers 
include  Paracelsus,  the  physician-scientist, 
who  in  youth  wandered  over  Europe  in 
search  of  knowledge,  and  in  old  age  in  search 
of  bread  and  protection;  Becher,  the  discov- 
erer of  boracic  acid;  Boyle,  half  alchemist, 
half  chemist,  the  first  Englishman  to  follow 
Bacon's  method;  Hooke,  pupil  of  Boyle,  who 
enunciated  the  undulatory  theory  of  light, 
and  almost  anticipated  Newton's  discovery 
of  universal  gravitation ;  and  Priestley  who, 
with  apparatus  made  of  wash-tubs  and 
kitchen  utensils,  discovered  oxygen,  and  iso- 
lated more  gases  than  all  his  predecessors 
put  together. 


100  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

In  the  sciences  having  to  do  with  human 
behavior,  new  pathways  were  opened  some- 
what later  than  in  the  case  of  the  physical 
sciences.  Machiavelli  made  an  unrivaled  an- 
alysis of  the  art  of  the  political  despot,  but 
so  isolated  politics  from  ethics  as  to  earn 
almost  universal  condemnation.  Bodin  be- 
came the  first  modern  to  rival  Aristotle  in 
the  study  of  government.  Locke  began  again 
the  analysis  of  human  consciousness.  Mon- 
tesquieu definitely  transferred  the  idea  of  law 
from  the  natural  to  the  social  sciences,  by 
revealing  political  institutions  as  the  natural 
products  of  the  conditions  of  each  country. 
Adam  Smith  traced  the  workings  of  the  force 
of  self-interest  in  the  general  economic  move- 
ments of  society,  and  produced  a  book  which 
changed  the  policies  of  nations.  Beccaria 
showed  the  futility  of  the  barbarous  punish- 
ments of  his  day,  which  rested  on  ignorance 
of  human  nature. 

Eequisites  of  Creative  Thinking 

Let  us  for  a  moment,  in  conclusion,  sum- 
marize the  significance  of  these  two  great  be- 
ginnings in  science — the  origin  in  Greece,  and 
the  re-awakening  in  western  Europe.  Among 
the  elements  in  the  story  which  have  acted 


PIONEERS   OF   SCIENCE  101 

as  encouragements  to  thinking,  we  find  leis- 
ure, courage,  a  dramatic  break  with  the  past, 
alluring  opportunity,  and  sound  ethical  mo- 
tives. Two  things  may,  perhaps,  be  selected 
as  basic  in  setting  the  human  mind  at  its 
best  work :  striking  events  to  shake  the  force 
of  tradition,  and  brave  men  fit  to  play  the 
role  of  pioneers.  The  administrator  who 
would  revolutionize  the  methods  of  his  or- 
ganization, must,  therefore,  break  the  force 
of  the  mental  inertia  expressed  by  the  well- 
known  phrase, ' '  It  has  always  been  done  that 
way  here";  and  he  must  so  generously  share 
opportunities  as  to  enlist  the  interest  and  fire 
the  imagination  of  his  men.  Having  done 
this,  it  remains  to  discover  the  minds  of  in- 
quisitive and  courageous  nature,  which  re- 
veal themselves  in  response  to  the  conditions, 
and  to  give  to  such  gifted  individuals  special 
encouragement. 


Chapter  VI 
SYSTEM-MAKEES    OF   SCIENCE 

npHE  age  of  the  pioneers,  in  any  province 
*  of  science,  is  normally  succeeded  by 
that  of  the  systematizers.  System  involves 
the  ordering  of  details  in  conformity  to  a 
general  plan.  A  general  plan  of  necessity 
rests  upon  general  concepts  or  principles,  de- 
rived from  the  study  of  groups  of  specific 
facts.  When,  therefore,  the  period  of  sys- 
tematization  comes  in  scientific  thinking, 
there  appear  in  most  conspicuous  form  those 
special  bugbears  of  the  practical  man,  name- 
ly, theories  and  theorizers.  As  the  work  of 
fact  collection  proceeds  in  any  branch  of 
science,  and  the  amount  of  knowledge  on  any 
group  of  subjects  becomes  at  length  consid- 
erable, an  unwieldiness  or  confusion  mani- 
fests itself,  owing  to  the  lack  of  comprehen- 
sive conceptions  and  basic  principles,  by 
which  the  general  drift  and  bearing  of  the 
innumerable  specific  facts  may  be  grasped. 
In  short,  the  woods  cannot  be  seen  for  the 
trees.  The  suggestion  then  comes  quite  na- 
turally that,  as  small  collections  of  facts  have 
permitted  minor  principles  and  local  and  lim- 
103 


104  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

ited  tendencies  to  be  fixed,  so,  if  facts  can  be 
compared  in  larger  bodies,  group  with  group 
and  class  with  class,  general  laws  and  ten- 
dencies will  be  discovered. 

To  the  scientist,  a  law  or  principle  is  the 
description  of  a  tendency  or  general  charac- 
teristic of  a  series  of  facts.  It  is  an  account 
of  sequences  which  tend,  from  the  nature  of 
things,  to  be  self -enforcing.  It  has  been  de- 
fined as,  "A  description  in  the  simplest  pos- 
sible terms  of  the  widest  possible  range  of 
phenomena.' '  In  all  forms  of  mental  work 
the  use  of  principles  and  types  is  indispens- 
able. The  beginning  of  reasoning  is  to  at- 
tain a  conception  of  general  facts,  such  as  a 
law  or  a  system  of  laws,  to  begin  the  process 
of  grouping  general  facts  into  conveniently 
handled  types  or  standards,  and  to  form  the 
habit  of  judging  specific  instances  by  compar- 
ing them  with  the  standards. 

The  advantage  of  this  habit  lies  in  its  econ- 
omy of  effort.    William  James  has  said: 

The  best  possible  sort  of  system  into  which  to  weave  an 
object,  mentally,  is  a  rational  system,  or  what  is  called  a 
"science."  Place  the  thing  in  its  pigeon-hole  in  a  classi- 
ficatory  series;  explain  it  logically  by  its  causes,  and  deduce 
from  it  its  necessary  effects ;  find  out  of  what  natural  law  it 
is  an  instance — and  you  then  know  it  in  the  best  of  all  pos- 
sible ways.    A  "science"  is  thus  the  greatest  of  labor-sav- 


SYSTEM-MAKERS    OF    SCIENCE  105 

ing  contrivances.  It  relieves  the  memory  of  an  immense 
number  of  details,  replacing,  as  it  does,  merely  contiguous 
associations  by  the  logical  ones  of  identity,  similarity,  or 
analogy.  If  you  know  a  "law,"  you  may  discharge  your 
memory  of  masses  of  particular  instances,  for  the  law  will 
reproduce  them  for  you  whenever  you  require  them. 

The  person  who  thinks  over  his  experi- 
ences, and  deduces  principles  from  them, 
soon  raises  himself,  therefore,  above  depend- 
ence upon  mere  retentive  memory.  Such  a 
man  does  not  need  to  crowd  his  mind  with 
specific  instances,  to  be  protected  from  the 
danger  of  going  against  the  teachings  of  ex- 
perience, for  in  his  principles  he  has  the  con- 
centrated extract  of  experience.  His  mind 
is  liberated  from  timid  subserviency  to  tra- 
dition or  precedent,  for  it  has  the  guidance 
of  a  deeper  and  surer  rule. 

The  work  of  bringing  together  the  de- 
tached results  of  isolated  observers,  and  of 
submitting  them  to  systematic  arrangement 
and  comparison,  became  a  somewhat  notable 
tendency  in  the  natural  sciences,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the  first 
part  of  the  nineteenth.  It  centered  first  upon 
the  mathematical  sciences  and  later  upon  the 
biological  group. 

It  was  the  work  of  the  system-makers  to 
articulate  the  frame-work  of  those  sciences 


106  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

which  were  sufficiently  advanced  to  permit  it, 
and  to  make  comprehensible  the  bearing  of 
each  section  or  subdivision  of  knowledge 
upon  the  others.  By  thus  bringing  parts  of 
sciences  and  families  of  sciences  into  com- 
parison, many  apparent  contradictions  have 
been  explained.  The  light  afforded  by  dis- 
coveries in  one  subject  has  served  to  illumi- 
nate the  dark  places  of  neighboring  subjects. 
The  very  endeavor  to  make  a  comprehensive 
survey  revealed  the  fact  that  certain  im- 
portant subjects  had  been  overlooked  and  un- 
studied. The  comparison  of  ways  of  work- 
ing caused  simplification  and  standardiza- 
tion. It  insured  also  the  application  of  each 
method  to  all  investigations  for  which  it  is 
the  best,  regardless  of  the  kind  of  work  in 
which  the  method  itself  originated.  Stand- 
ardization of  methods  immensely  decreased 
cost,  improved  instruction,  and  facilitated  the 
comprehension,  comparison,  and  final  proof 
of  results. 

An  example  of  the  good  effect  of  carrying 
the  data  of  one  science  into  the  field  of  an- 
other is  afforded  by  the  history  of  spectrum 
analysis.  Not  only  did  the  minerals  fur- 
nished by  the  chemist,  and  given  a  character- 
istic spectrum  by  the  physicist,  enable  the  as- 


SYSTEM-MAKERS    OP   SCIENCE  107 

tronomer  to  show  that  the  stars  are  made 
of  the  same  substances  as  the  earth,  but  the 
unexplained  lines  in  the  spectrum  of  the  stars 
suggested  to  the  chemist  the  existence  of  un- 
known minerals.  Another  illustration  is  the 
theory  of  geology,  as  stated  by  Hutton  and 
completed  by  Lyell;  namely,  that  the  earth's 
surface  has  been  brought  to  its  present  con- 
dition through  the  operation  of  no  other 
forces  than  those  now  existing.  When  this 
conclusion  was  brought  to  the  attention  of 
biologists,  it  cast  doubt  upon  the  accepted  be- 
lief that  each  species  of  animal  and  plant  was 
the  result  of  a  special  act  of  creation.  If  all 
unusual  and  cataclysmic  processes,  and  all 
special  acts  of  creation,  were  found  to  be  un- 
necessary in  accounting  for  inorganic  forms, 
such  as  the  continents  and  seas,  it  seemed  ir- 
rational to  rely  upon  them  in  accounting  for 
organic  forms.  This  doubt  redoubled  the  en- 
ergy of  the  search  for  a  simple  and  natural 
process  which  could  be  considered  adequate 
to  explain  the  existence  of  the  variety  of  ex- 
tinct and  existing  forms  of  life  on  the  earth. 
The  search  resulted  in  the  Darwinian  theory 
of  evolution.  This  theory,  in  its  construc- 
tion, beautifully  illustrates  the  value  of 
carrying  ideas  from  one  science  to  another, 


108  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

for  it  is  composed  of  elements  brought  from 
many  different  sources.  The  original  con- 
ception of  an  all-inclusive  process  of  evolu- 
tionary change  came  from  philosophy,  the 
theory  that  this  change  was  caused  by  the 
normal  exercise  of  forces  now  existing  was 
transferred  from  geology,  the  observation  of 
spontaneous  variation  was  first  made  by  the 
animal  breeders  of  England,  and  the  concep- 
tion of  a  struggle  for  existence,  involving  the 
destruction  of  the  unfit,  was  found  by  Darwin 
in  the  economic  writings  of  Eobert  Malthus. 

Leaders  in  Scientific  Theory 

We  can  mention  but  a  few  names  among 
the  many  which  hold  an  honorable  place  in 
the  history  of  scientific  system-making.  A 
man  of  the  very  highest  genius  was  Laplace, 
frequently  called  the  Newton  of  France.  He 
was  an  important  connecting  link  in  astron- 
omy. On  the  one  hand  he  closed  a  chapter 
of  research  by  his  contributions  to  celestial 
mechanics,  and  on  the  other,  he  opened  a  new 
lead  with  his  nebular  hypothesis,  which  an- 
nounced a  general  process  of  change  in  the 
universe.  In  geology  the  first  to  correlate 
the  mass  of  observations  of  rocks  was  the 
Scotchman,  James  Hutton.    He  arranged  his 


SYSTEM-MAKERS    OF    SCIENCE  109 

facts  into  a  luminous  and  coherent  theory,  in 
which  the  process  of  deposition  of  rocks  on 
the  sea  bottom,  of  elevation  and  folding  to 
form  the  land  masses,  and  of  wearing  down 
by  atmospheric  agencies,  all  found  their  logi- 
cal places. 

Turning  to  the  biological  sciences,  we  find 
five  systematizers  whose  work  is  closely 
linked  together.  The  first  is  Linnaeus,  the 
namer  or  Adam  of  science,  and  undoubtedly 
the  greatest  natural  classifier  that  science 
has  ever  known.  It  has  been  said  that  he 
found  biology  a  chaos  and  left  it  a  cosmos. 
He  did  so  by  introducing  the  idea  of  a  stair- 
way or  scale  of  nature,  composed  of  a  suc- 
cession of  living  forms  arranged  in  a  single 
series  of  steps  of  ascending  complexity.  This 
system  of  classification  was  perfected  by  La- 
marck who,  however,  based  the  arrangement 
of  genera  and  species  not  upon  superficial 
characteristics,  but  upon  organic  structure. 
He  formulated  a  number  of  laws  of  organic 
change,  which  will  bear  study  by  the  admin- 
istrator. One  of  these  became  famous,  name- 
ly, that  evolution  proceeds  through  the  in- 
heritance of  acquired  characteristics.  It  was 
the  work  of  Cuvier  to  show  that  organisms 
could  not  be  considered  as  related  to  each 


110  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

other  in  a  single  series,  but  that  they  must 
be  conceived  as  diverging  from  certain  primi- 
tive types,  as  the  branches  of  a  tree  spread 
out  from  the  trunk.  Finally  Darwin,  whose 
theory  has  already  been  mentioned,  sup- 
planted the  Lamarckian  theory,  by  showing 
that  organic  evolution  is  not  caused  by  the 
inheritance  of  acquired  characteristics,  but 
is  the  result  of  spontaneous  variation,  and  of 
a  struggle  for  existence  in  which  the  fittest 
types  alone  survive.  The  last  great  step  in 
the  elaboration  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution 
was  taken  by  Herbert  Spencer.  The  central 
idea  of  his  comprehensive  system  is  the  ap- 
plication of  this  law  to  the  mind  of  man,  and 
to  the  phenomena  of  human  society.  In 
working  out  this  idea,  Spencer  became  the 
first  to  attempt  a  strictly  inductive  or  scien- 
tific system  of  philosophy. 

Exploded  Theories 

The  system-makers  have  had  difficulties  to 
overcome  as  truly  as  the  pioneers.  It  has 
been  their  task  to  build  an  insecure  structure 
of  hypotheses  out  from  the  known  toward  the 
unknown,  like  bridge-builders  who  could  not 
know  what  the  span  was  to  be  until  the  far- 
ther  pier    was    reached.     When    their   hy- 


SYSTEM-MAKERS   OF   SCIENCE  111 

potheses  failed  to  be  confirmed  as  principles, 
and  their  systems  fell  in  ruins,  they  earned 
the  title  of  ' '  nature-philosophers ' ' ;  a  phrase 
intended  to  exclude  them  entirely  from  the 
brotherhood  of  scientists.  And  even  when 
their  work  was  sound,  and  later  confirmed, 
they  often  received  the  grudging  recognition 
of  the  word  "  premature. ' ' 

The  favorite  gibe  of  outsiders  against 
science  is  "exploded  theories";  as  if  the  re- 
tort "obsolete  methods"  were  not  at  hand. 
With  every  wreck  of  a  theory  there  arise 
those  critics,  so  wise  after  the  event,  who 
timidly  shudder  at  the  hazard  of  error  in 
speculation,  but  without  showing  how  the 
work  of  science  (or  any  other  great  work 
in  the  world),  can  go  on,  except  with  the  free 
and  bold  use  of  tentative  conclusions.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  most  "exploded  theories" 
have  been  useful  in  their  time.  A  theory 
does  not  need  to  be  the  ultimate  truth  to  be 
of  value.  It  is  helpful  if  it  substitutes  a 
conception  more  like  the  truth  than  that 
which  it  has  displaced,  for  by  so  doing  it 
facilitates  the  transition  to  the  truth,  mak- 
ing the  individual  steps  toward  it  shorter 
and  easier.  The  human  mind  does  not  leap  to 
the  greater  truths  at  a  single  bound,  but 


112  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

builds  up  to  them  by  degrees,  as  the  increase 
of  knowledge  permits,  reaching  them  by  a 
series  of  approximations,  or  through  a  pro- 
cess of  corrections.  "Erroneous  observa- 
tions,' '  said  Darwin,  "are  in  the  highest  de- 
gree injurious  to  the  progress  of  science, 
since  they  often  persist  for  a  long  time.  But 
erroneous  theories,  when  they  are  supported 
by  facts,  do  little  harm,  since  every  one  takes 
a  healthy  pleasure  in  proving  their  falsity.' ' 
The  history  of  science  amply  proves  that  even 
when  the  scaffolding  of  theory  has  been  in- 
adequate, and  has  been  torn  down,  it  has 
usually  served  in  its  day  to  advance  the  con- 
struction of  the  permanent  edifice  of  truth. 

Theories  in  Practical  Affairs 

The  place  and  function  of  theory  has  thus 
been  denned  by  Mr.  E.  Bay  Lankester,  in  his 
description  of  the  scientific  method : 

First,  accuracy  in  the  observation  and  statement  of  a 
fact  and,  secondly,  the  formation  of  often  far-reaching 
guesses  in  explanation  of  the  fact,  suggested  by  a  knowledge 
of  other  well-ascertained  facts;  [third]  the  guess  being 
then  tested,  and  so  either  established  or  discarded  by 
means  of  experiment,  or  by  further  observation,  or  by 
logical  reference  to  ascertained  facts. 

It  is  a  very  widespread  opinion  that  prac- 
tical reasoning  differs  from  scientific  reason- 


SYSTEM-MAKERS    OF    SCIENCE  113 

ing  chiefly  in  the  second  step  of  Prof.  Lan- 
kester  's  definition ;  that  is  to  say,  in  the  use 
of  "guesses"  or  of  theories  or  hypotheses. 
There  is,  however,  much  ground  for  saying 
that  it  is  precisely  at  this  point  that  the 
greatest  similarity  between  the  two  kinds  of 
reasoning  lies.  The  true  difference  is  to  be 
found  in  the  first  and  third  steps,  namely,  in 
the  accuracy  and  completeness  as  to  facts, 
and  in  the  care  with  which  conclusions  are 
tested  before  being  accepted. 

Theories  are  probably  as  plentiful  in  prac- 
tical affairs  as  they  are  in  science.  The  dif- 
ference in  the  use  is  that  men  of  affairs  (if 
they  have  not  had  scientific  training)  use  the- 
ories for  the  most  part  unconsciously,  and 
distinguish  them  imperfectly  from  matters 
of  established  fact.  This  carelessness  keeps 
alive  a  crop  of  natural  fallacies  which, 
though  periodically  slaughtered  on  the  field 
of  scientific  debate,  springs  up  afresh  in  the 
minds  of  every  new  generation.  It  keeps 
afloat,  also,  a  sort  of  scientific  wreckage  com- 
posed of  survivals  of  old  systems  of  thought, 
now  abandoned  by  contemporary  thinkers; 
and  fragments  of  scientific  views,  misunder- 
stood because  popularized  apart  from  their 
proper  interpreting  accompaniments. 


114  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

As  an  example  of  an  unconscious  theory 
at  work,  we  may  point  to  the  starvation  of 
administrative  and  service  departments  of 
industrial  organizations,  by  reason  of  the  in- 
fluence of  the  unfortunate  phrase,  "unpro- 
ductive expenditure. ' '  The  natural  fallacy 
may  be  illustrated  by  the  idea  that  invention 
will  be  promoted  by  concentrating  capable 
men  upon  the  particular  process  or  mechan- 
ism to  be  improved,  rather  than  by  increas- 
ing the  range  and  variety  of  study,  so  as  to 
bring  about  a  cross-fertilization  of  ideas.  An 
example  of  a  theory  torn  out  of  its  natural 
place,  and  misapplied,  is  the  idea  that  since, 
in  the  days  of  small  owner-managers,  the 
chief  executives  represented  capital  interests 
exclusively,  such  a  policy  is  suitable  for 
large-scale  enterprises  of  the  present  day, 
with  absentee  stockholders,  staff-conscious- 
ness, organized  labor,  and  active  public  con- 
trol. Incongruous  elements  may  be  seen 
joined  together  in  the  speech  of  those  who,  at 
one  time,  speak  of  the  economy  of  high 
wages,  and  at  another,  of  protection  to  equal- 
ize labor  costs.  Obsolete  issues  may  be 
found  doing  duty  in  establishments  where 
the  continual  thought  is  equipment  rather 
than  men ;  as  if  we  were  still  in  the  seventies, 


SYSTEM-MAKERS    OF    SCIENCE  115 

with  poor  mechanism  and  splendid  men,  in- 
stead of  being  in  a  time  of  splendid  equip- 
ment, but  unawakened  and  inefficient  oper- 
atives. Men  of  affairs  often  ridicule  science 
because  of  their  own  poor  success  with  the- 
ories, although  it  is  precisely  in  science  that 
theories  are  used  with  intelligence  and  made 
to  yield  efficient  results. 

Theories  are  indispensable  tools  of  sys- 
tematic thinking,  and  are  therefore  essential 
to  efficient  action  under  the  complicated  con- 
ditions of  modern  industry.  The  slow-mov- 
ing pedestrian  may  be  able  to  make  some 
progress  by  creeping  along,  with  lantern  in 
hand,  lighting  the  road  a  few  steps  at  a  time ; 
but  the  automobile  driver  requires  powerful 
lamps.  Small  bodies  can  turn  quickly,  but 
where  large  momentum  is  involved  the  road 
must  be  seen  far  in  advance  to  allow  for  ob- 
stacles. By  means  of  these  analogies  we 
may  approach  a  rule  of  administration, 
namely,  the  more  rapidly  affairs  move,  and 
the  greater  the  interests  involved  in  single 
transactions,  the  greater  is  the  need  for  the- 
ories of  action  deduced  from  specific  facts, 
and  for  such  a  calculus  of  probabilities  as 
hypotheses  alone  afford.  Theories  are  dan- 
gerous, of  course — all  complex,  highly-pro- 


116  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

ductive  agencies  are  so.  They  must  be 
formed  and  applied  by  men  of  trained  intelli- 
gence. 

Those  great  business  executives  who  be- 
come specially  noted  as  leaders  of  men  are 
usually  men  of  imagination  or,  as  the  phrase 
goes,  of  " large  ideas.' '  A  theory  opens  the 
road  in  advance  of  action,  and  in  so  doing 
quickens  and  intensifies  action.  To  arouse 
men  to  exert  themselves,  a  view  or  belief  is 
needed  which  absorbs  the  past  into  the  pres- 
ent event,  and  projects  both  into  the  future, 
forming  a  program  or  course  of  conduct.  The 
first  event  gains  in  significance  as  it  leads  to 
something  else;  and  this,  in  turn,  is  illumi- 
nated by  the  charm  of  a  still  more  remote 
good.  Thus  a  vista  is  opened, — a  way  of 
life, — along  which  progress  seems  worth 
while.  And  so  men  are  awakened,  and  their 
energies  unlocked.  "Even  false  views  of 
things,' '  said  Cardinal  Newman,  "have  more 
influence,  and  inspire  more  respect  than  no 
views  at  all.  Men  who  fancy  they  see  what 
is  not  are  more  energetic,  and  make  their 
way  better  than  those  who  see  nothing.' '  Cer- 
tainly those  men  are  best  able  to  evoke  the 
enthusiasm  and  support  of  others  who  can 
present  far-reaching  and  significant  ideas, — 


SYSTEM-MAKERS    OF    SCIENCE  117 

ideas  which  touch  upon  and  illuminate  many- 
things  with  a  new  significance,  and  which 
fire  the  imagination  by  their  implications  and 
consequences. 

The  latest  scientific  advance  seems  always 
to  be  more  or  less  a  fabric  of  dreams,  for 
it  stands  at  first  uninterpreted  into  popular 
terms,  and  is  as  yet  unassociated  with  fa- 
miliar things.  On  the  other  hand,  the  earlier 
advances  of  theory,  which  appeared  so  bold 
in  their  day,  are  now  condensed  into  popular 
proverbs,  and  clothed  with  the  details  of  daily 
practice,  so  that  they  seem  never  to  have 
been  theories,  but  merely  the  natural  prod- 
ucts of  common  sense.  This  argues  that  we 
should  draw,  from  the  successes  of  men  of 
vision,  courage  to  think  of  the  present  in  the 
splendid,  broad,  heroic  way  which  its  oppor- 
tunities deserve.  The  bravely  imagined 
dreams  of  one  generation,  as  bravely  tested, 
become  the  common  property  and  common 
sense  of  the  next  generation. 


Chapter  VII 
THE   APPLICATION    OF    SCIENCE 

'TSHE  first  epoch  of  science,  treated  of  in 
*  the  chapter  on  the  Pioneers  of  Science, 
exhibited  the  difficulty  of  shaking  the  mind 
loose  from  traditional  views.  The  chapter 
on  the  System-Makers  was  devoted  to  the 
period  in  which  the  great  masses  of  human 
knowledge  were  organized  and  bound  to- 
gether by  threading  them  through  with  a  con- 
nective tissue  of  fundamental  principles. 

The  most  recent  period  of  science  has,  as 
one  of  its  dominating  characteristics,  the 
widespread  application  of  the  knowledge  al- 
ready accumulated.  Its  special  task  has  been 
to  bring  controlling  truths  down  out  of  the 
skies  of  theory  to  the  earth  of  specific  in- 
stances, and  to  render  them  simple  enough 
and  flexible  enough  to  control  daily  problems. 
By  this  it  is  not  meant  to  imply  that  pioneer- 
ing and  systematizing  are  no  longer  required. 
The  pioneers  are  now  waging  a  warfare 
against  tradition  in  the  domain  of  psychology 
and  the  social  sciences.  The  systematizers 
are  completing  their  work  in  the  biological 
sciences,  without  further  theological  opposi- 
119 


120  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

tion.  What  is  meant  is  that  the  distinctive 
feature  of  the  latest  period  of  science  is  a 
new  emphasis  on  social  welfare.  There  has 
come  into  the  world  of  affairs  a  generation 
of  young  men  trained  in  the  world  of  science. 
These  men  desire  to  bring  the  two  worlds 
into  harmonious  adjustment  with  each  other. 
Animated  by  the  vision  of  a  new  earth,  in 
which  shall  dwell  not  only  righteousness  but 
efficiency,  they  often  find  themselves  in  col- 
lision with  traditional  methods  and  vested 
interests. 

Thus  the  full  cycle  of  science  stands  at  last 
revealed — knowledge  is  first  gathered  by  ob- 
servation and  experiment ;  it  is  then  system- 
atized into  harmonious  bodies  of  principles ; 
and  finally,  by  means  of  inventions  and  new 
processes,  by  policies  and  programs,  it 
reaches  down  again  into  and  controls  the 
world  of  individual  instances  out  of  which 
it  originally  sprang.  The  order  of  intellec- 
tual progress  is,  first,  pure  science,  as  the  ex- 
plorer and  pioneer  in  a  new  country,  and, 
second,  the  practical  arts,  as  the  settlers 
moving  in  to  cultivate  the  domain,  and  build 
human  habitations.  First  comes  the  change 
of  ideas,  and  then  the  change  of  methods  and 
institutions.    As  Wendell  Phillips  said,  "In- 


APPLICATION   OF    SCIENCE  121 

surrection  of  thought  always  precedes  insur- 
rection of  arms." 

In  bringing  science  and  practice  into  con- 
tact, the  circulation  of  nourishing  ideas  in 
society  is  made  complete.  Science  gives  to 
practice  its  laws.  Practice,  by  attaining  a 
new  precision  and  productivity,  yields  to 
science  a  more  exact  and  generous  supply  of 
materials  for  study,  and  provides  increas- 
ingly for  its  support.  Apart  from  science, 
practice  is  the  slave  of  tradition  and  ad- 
vances with  the  timid  groping  steps  of  ex- 
perience. Divorced  from  practice,  science 
becomes  narrow,  speculative,  unbalanced  and, 
(deprived  of  its  final  test  of  validity),  even 
inconclusive.  In  the  work  of  making  the 
world  a  comfortable  home  for  man,  one  of 
these  spheres  of  activity  is  as  necessary  as 
the  other. 

Union  of  Pube  and  Applied  Science 

In  mechanics,  Black's  discovery  of  latent 
heat  was  a  laboratory  fact  until  his  pupil, 
Watt,  applied  it  by  condensing  the  steam  of 
an  engine  outside  the  cylinder.  The  laws  of 
Boyle,  Charles,  Eegnault,  Joule,  and  Carnot 
are  known  to  the  world  chiefly  because  of 


122  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

their  application  in  the  steam  engine.  Gal- 
vanic experiments  upon  frog's  legs,  with 
electricity,  are  important  because  they  ended 
in  the  Atlantic  cables.  The  electric  arc  might 
have  flashed  in  vain  in  Davy's  laboratory  in 
1801,  and  the  curiously  wound  wires  might  in 
vain  have  turned  in  the  field  of  Faraday's 
hand  magnet,  had  not  a  succession  of  keen 
minds  labored  to  bring  out  of  them  the  mod- 
ern arc  light  and  the  electric  dynamo.  Oer- 
sted's discovery  that  a  magnet  sets  itself  at 
right  angles  to  the  direction  of  a  current 
fruited,  fifteen  years  later,  across  the  At- 
lantic, in  Henry's  mind,  in  the  form  of  a  re- 
ceiver for  the  electric  telegraph. 

In  chemistry  we  remember  Davy's  segre- 
gation of  sodium  and  potassium  with  the 
Voltaic  pile  in  1807,  and  Wohler  's  production 
of  aluminum  by  electrolysis  in  1827 ;  but  we 
have  forgotten  the  names  of  the  many  in- 
ventors and  chemists,  engineers  and  admin- 
istrators, whose  applied  science  went  into  the 
making  of  the  modern  electro-chemical  in- 
dustry. All  honor  to  the  crude  beginnings 
of  Liebig  in  agricultural  chemistry ;  but  it  re- 
quired dozens  of  experiment  stations  to  per- 
fect the  subject  for  use.  The  few  simple  ex- 
periments made  by  that  American  of  ro- 


APPLICATION   OP   SCIENCE  123 

mantic  career,  Count  Rumford,  in  the  chem- 
istry of  combustion,  were  far  from  bringing 
into  existence  the  modern  smokeless  furnace. 
The  same  might  be  said  of  the  researches  of 
Runge  and  Hofmann,  with  reference  to  coal- 
tar.  Scheele  's  discovery  of  chlorine,  in  1774, 
was  followed  by  the  purposeful  work  of 
Berthollet  and  Watt,  in  1785  and  1786,  in 
revolutionizing  bleaching.  Schonbein's  dis- 
covery of  gun-cotton,  in  1846,  started  studies 
to  a  definite  end,  which  was  reached  in 
Nobel 's  invention  of  dynamite  in  1867.  A 
similar  story  might  be  told  of  the  effective 
bringing  of  new  ideas  to  bear  in  dyeing,  in 
iron  and  steel  manufacture,  in  food  preserva- 
tion, in  brewing,  photography,  tanning,  etc. 

Difficulties  of  Applied  Science 

Inasmuch  as  the  endeavor  practically  to 
apply  knowledge  sets  out  with  a  definite  goal, 
and  purposefully  rejects  all  results  but  those 
which  lead  to  the  one  end,  it  demands  saga- 
cious directing  and  large  patience.  It  is  no- 
torious that  the  first  idea  of  most  inventions 
is  crude,  and  can  be  made  of  practical  value 
only  by  tedious  and  expensive  adaptation  and 
simplification.  The  same  is  true  of  crude 
scientific  ideas. 


124  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

One  of  the  difficulties  of  applying  scientific 
knowledge  lies  in  the  fact  that  problems  of 
application  are  complex.  They  are  so  for  the 
reason  that  the  solution  aimed  at  must  sat- 
isfy tests  of  divers  character  Not  only  must 
the  principles  of  the  sciences  from  which  the 
knowledge  is  drawn  be  regarded,  but  the  prac- 
tices of  those  arts  in  which  it  is  to  be  applied 
must  be  observed  as  well.  As  all  practical 
affairs  are  mixed  of  many  elements,  the  lim- 
its and  standards  applying  to  them  are 
equally  numerous.  A  mechanism  must  not 
only  be  sound  mechanically,  but  it  must  be 
easily  produced,  adjusted,  repaired,  cleaned, 
learned,  and  operated.  An  executive  policy 
must  not  only  conform  to  the  principles  of 
psychology,  but  its  agencies  must  be  on  a 
scale  commensurate  with  the  enterprise  to 
be  controlled,  the  cost  must  not  unduly  in- 
crease administrative  expense,  and  the  plan 
must  be  capable  of  gradual  introduction  and 
easy  modification. 

Work  of  a  practical  character  takes  on 
usually  the  nature  of  a  compromise.  It  re- 
quires the  type  of  mind  capable  of  keeping 
many  things  in  view  at  once,  and  of  balanc- 
ing opposing  considerations.  Eesults  come 
by  means  of  a  slow  and  tedious  succession 


APPLICATION  OF  SCIENCE  125 

of  approximations,  rather  than  by  the  more 
simple  and  satisfying  method  of  going  the 
limit  regardless. 

Again,  the  solutions  of  applied  science  are 
discouragingly  temporary.  Where  there  are 
so  many  determining  factors,  it  is  to  be  ex- 
pected that  some  of  them  will  quickly  change, 
and  in  so  doing  will  start  the  process  of  ob- 
solescence. 

Theory  versus  Practice 

To  the  necessary  and  inherent  difficulties 
of  work  in  applied  science,  there  are  to  be 
added  unnecessary  ones  arising  from  the  dis- 
trust and  antagonism  with  which  the  follow- 
ers of  pure  research  and  men  of  affairs  re- 
gard each  other.  Those  who  endeavor  to 
adapt  science  to  the  needs  of  practice  some- 
times have  the  ungrateful  task  of  interme- 
diaries, misunderstood  by  both  sides.  On  the 
one  side  we  hear  the  phrase, i  '  Science  for  its 
own  sake,"  and  on  the  other,  "No  imprac- 
tical theories";  and  these  slogans  are  ut- 
tered in  a  sententious  manner  as  though  they 
represented  a  true  issue. 

The  scientific  point  of  view  is  to  follow  the 
lead  of  the  subject-matter.  This  means  that 
when  the  aim  of  any  piece  of  work  is  com- 


126  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

plete  knowledge  of  a  given  subject,  it  is  not 
intelligent  to  complicate  the  problem  by  add- 
ing the  question  of  the  use  to  which  the 
knowledge  is  to  be  put  after  it  is  attained. 
This  is  simply  following  the  rule  of  having 
a  properly  circumscribed  aim ;  a  practice  the 
value  of  which  all  administrators  understand. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  practical  problem 
begins  by  setting  a  specific  goal,  such  as  a 
desired  substance  or  process.  It  inquires  the 
most  expeditious  means  of  attaining  this  re- 
sult. In  such  a  case,  to  investigate  those 
aspects  of  things  which  obviously  have  no 
connection  with  the  problem,  on  the  ground 
that  the  stock  of  human  knowledge  will  be 
increased  by  so  doing,  is  to  forget  what  one 
is  about.  The  scientist  and  the  practical  man 
both  give  themselves  immense  credit  for  fol- 
lowing precisely  the  same  rule, — that  of  the 
division  of  labor. 

To  the  "practical"  man,  the  scientist  in- 
cubates inefficiently,  because  he  does  not 
check  up  vigorously  enough  with  himself. 
And  this  arises  from  his  hazy  philosophy  of 
not  knowing  exactly  what  he  wants,  or  the 
probable  value  of  it  all.  The  scientist  some- 
times gives  an  unjustifiable  extension  to  the 
rule  of  his  work  which  is  expressed  by  the 


APPLICATION   OP   SCIENCE  127 

phrases:  "Truth  for  Truths  Sake,"  and 
' '  Art  for  Art 's  Sake. ' f  This  is  a  minor  rule  of 
thinking,  essential  within  its  proper  sphere, 
but  it  is  limited  in  validity  and  in  appropri- 
ate application  by  the  force  of  the  greater 
rule  of  life, — Truth  and  Art  for  Man's  Sake. 
To  the  scientist,  the  - '  practical ' '  man  does 
not  even  know  the  wide  range  of  the  practi- 
cal. By  impatiently  applying  to  intermediate 
productive  steps  the  tests  which  are  appro- 
priate only  for  final  results,  he  cuts  himself 
off  from  many  indirect  but  highly  profitable 
chains  of  productive  effort.  That  science  and 
practice  are  different  is  not  a  reason  for  an- 
tagonism, but  for  co-operation.  Each  may 
exercise  a  corrective  influence  upon  the  other. 
"We  may  hope,"  said  Huxley,  "that,  at  last, 
the  weary  misunderstanding  between  the 
practical  men,  who  professed  to  despise 
science,  and  the  high  and  dry  philosophers, 
who  professed  to  despise  practical  results,  is 
at  an  end." 

Science  as  a  Phase  of  Vital  Living 

Men  of  affairs  often  make  the  mistake  of 
conceiving  scientists  as  a  nervous,  scholastic 
type  of  men,  rather  puny  in  physique,  and 
inclined  to  be  wandering  and  loosely  co-ordi- 


128  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

nated  in  mind.  Nothing  could  be  further 
from  the  truth.  Eesults  do  not  come  from 
men  who  have  not  their  energies  under  effec- 
tive control;  and  certainly  the  results  of  the 
last  three  hundred  years  of  science  are  an 
evidence  of  energy.  Science  has  been  a  re- 
volt against  tradition;  a  fight  for  liberty  to 
go  to  the  bottom  of  things.  It  has  displayed 
the  enterprise  of  the  discoverer,  curiosity  to 
think  the  Creator's  thoughts  after  Him,  a 
love  of  conquering  difficulties,  and  a  deter- 
mination to  rule  the  forces  of  nature  rather 
than  be  ruled  by  them.  In  short,  it  is  in 
every  way  positive  and  aggressive,  and  is, 
therefore,  the  expression  of  men  with  energy 
plus. 

Among  scientists  we  find  ability  of  every 
type;  there  are  men  of  prodigious  energy, 
like  Galileo  and  Bunsen ;  men  of  enthusiasm 
and  vivid  imagination,  like  Kepler,  Haeckel, 
Werner  and  Laplace;  men  of  rapid  and  ac- 
curate observation  like  Johann  Miiller;  men 
with  the  power  of  clear,  deep  reasoning  like 
Newton,  Henry  Cavendish,  and  Boerhaave; 
and  men  of  great  breadth  of  interest  like 
Descartes,  Adam  Smith,  and  Diderot.  There 
have  been  men  of  early  precocity  like  Gro- 
tius,  Thomas  Young,  Sir  William  Hamilton, 


APPLICATION  OP  SCIENCE  129 

and  John  Fiske ;  and  men  who  combined  suc- 
cess as  administrators  with  success  as  scien- 
tists, like  Turgot,  Bunsen,  Cuvier,  Leibnitz, 
and  Wilhelm  Humboldt.  After  making  a 
study  of  the  lives  of  eminent  men  of  science 
in  England,  Francis  Galton  wrote: 

Leading  scientific  men  are  generally  endowed  with  great 
energy;  many  of  the  most  successful  among  them  have 
labored  as  earnest  amateurs  in  extra-professional  hours, 
working  far  into  the  night.  They  have  climbed  the  long 
and  steep  ascent  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  ranks  of 
life;  they  have  learned  where  the  opportunities  for  learn- 
ing were  few;  they  have  built  up  fortunes  by  perseverance 
and  intelligence,  and  at  the  same  time  have  distinguished 
themselves  as  original  investigators  in  non-remunerative 
branches  of  science.  There  are  other  scientific  men  who 
possess  what  is  sometimes  called  quiet  energy;  their  vital 
engine  is  powerful,  but  the  steam  is  rarely  turned  fully  on. 
Again,  there  are  others  who  have  fine  intellects,  without 
much  energy;  but  these  latter  classes  are  quite  in  the 
minority.  The  typical  man  of  science  has  been  at  full  work 
from  boyhood  to  old  age,  and  has  exuberant  spirits  and 
love  of  adventure. 

Another  mistake  of  men  of  affairs  has  been 
to  assume  that  science  is  a  field  apart;  a 
world  with  the  ferment  of  whose  ideas  they 
need  not  concern  themselves,  except  as  new 
materials  or  processes  are  occasionally 
handed  over  to  industry  by  the  scientist.  The 
principal  ihing  about  science  is  not  itsre=_ 
suits,  but  its  method,  its  point  of  view,  and 


130  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

its  spirit.  These  are  constantly  spreading 
into  and  controlling  new  fields.  The  intellec- 
tual awakening  which  began  with  the  Renais- 
sance revolutionized  our  conceptions  of  the 
physical  world  in  which  we  live.  It  con- 
cerned itself  much,  at  first,  with  the  struggle 
for  freedom  from  the  tyranny  of  dogma.  It 
laid  a  new  foundation  for  political  institu- 
tions, and  the  result  was  revolutions  and  con- 
stitutions. It  pursued  the  study  of  nature, 
and  the  result  was  a  revolution  of  technique. 
It  is  now  focusing  attention  upon  economic 
and  social  policies.  The  modern  man  is  de- 
termined to  bring  everything  to  the  bar  of 
reason  and,  with  his  intelligence,  to  institute 
a  new  survival  of  the  fittest  among  social  in- 
stitutions, and  among  industries,  administra- 
tive policies,  and  leaders.  Everywhere  men 
are  making  inquiry  concerning  the  justifica- 
tion of  current  practices,  and  are  demanding 
exact  measurement  and  solid  proof  of  their 
appropriateness,  efficiency,  justice,  and  hu- 
manity. We  may  rest  assured  that  no  corner 
of  industry  will  long  remain  unexplored,  un- 
judged,  and  unrevolutionized. 


Chapter  VIII 

THE    PRINCIPLES    OF   MENTAL 
EFFICIENCY 

npHE  periods  of  the  history  of  science 
A  which  we  have  considered  in  the  pre- 
ceding articles  have  emphasized  three 
things;  the  bravery  of  original  thinking,  the 
practical  nature  of  theories,  and  the  fact  that 
"beauty  underlies  each  form  of  use."  There 
are  a  number  of  principles  of  efficiency  in 
mental  work  which  are  either  directly  in- 
volved in  the  scientific  method  itself,  or  are 
corollaries  or  logical  extensions  of  it.  These 
principles  have  been  at  work  in  each  of  the 
epochs  of  science,  and  consequently  cannot 
be  properly  placed  in  any  one  period  in  an 
historical  review.  Let  us  take  up  some  of  the 
more  important  of  these  principles,  and  en- 
deavor to  find  their  bearing  upon  the  work 
of  administrators  of  industrial  enterprises. 

Economy  of  Means 

Many  an  executive  officer,  after  introduc- 
ing changes  urged  upon  him  as  improve- 
ments, has  awakened  to  find  his  affairs  suf- 
fering from  a  remedy  worse  than  the  dis- 
131 


132  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

ease,  and  his  business  unsystematized  by 
over-elaborated  system.  Such  a  one  has,  per- 
haps, exclaimed  in  his  wrath : 1 1  No  more  fine- 
spun theories;  I  want  practical  facts,"  and 
in  so  doing  has  imagined  himself  taking  a 
practical  and  common-sense  attitude  quite  un- 
known to  the  scientist.  He  has  felt  resent- 
ment against  science  and  system-makers, 
much  as  a  man  who  has  cut  himself  with  a 
razor  might  blame  the  barber  who  had  honed 
it  for  him. 

The  principle  which  is  made  apparent, 
wherever  red-tape  is  discovered,  may  be 
stated  as  follows:  perfect  efficiency  requires 
that  the  means  employed  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  result  shall  be  neither  more  nor 
less  in  quality,  quantity,  or  cost  than  is  just 
sufficient  for  the  purpose.  The  use  of  ex- 
cessive means  is  only  less  unworkmanly  than 
the  use  of  insufficient  means.  Either  case 
violates  the  ideal  of  economy  of  means, 

With  this  ideal  scientists  have  long  been 
familiar.  For  its  sake  some  of  them  suffered 
from  the  wrath  of  an  enraged  public  opinion 
long  before  most  of  the  problems  of  the  mod- 
ern industrial  executive  came  into  existence. 
To  cite  a  celebrated  instance,  to  which  refer- 
ence has  already  been  made,  the  rise  of  the 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  133 

theory  of  evolution  in  geology  produced  the 
belief  that  the  stratification  of  rocks,  and  all 
topographic  features  of  the  earth,  were 
brought  about  by  the  operation  of  known 
forces,  acting  in  a  normal  way,  through  a 
long  period  of  time.  This  explanation  was 
opposed  to  the  popular  notion,  and  to  the 
official  theological  view  that  the  earth  was 
created  in  six  days  by  the  direct  use  of  dra- 
matic and  awe-inspiring  force  on  the  part  of 
the  Creator.  It  was  thought  that  the  tradi- 
tional account  of  creation  proved  the  primacy 
of  the  earth  among  the  heavenly  bodies,  and 
testified  eloquently  to  the  supreme  value  of 
man  in  the  created  universe.  When,  there- 
fore, it  was  asserted  by  scientists  that  the 
rocks  were  produced  by  familiar  forces,  act- 
ing in  a  simple  mechanical  way,  the  new 
theory  was  denounced  as  an  effort  to  do 
away  with  the  splendid  drama  of  creation, 
and  to  introduce  a  vulgar  and  sacrilegious 
economy  of  effort.  The  contest  through 
which  geology  passed  in  establishing  its  view 
served  to  fix  firmly  a  general  scientific  prin- 
ciple, namely,  no  result  should  be  attributed 
to  more  numerous  or  more  powerful  causes 
than  the  minimum  which  it  is  conceivable 
could  account  for  it. 


134  "business  administration 

The  struggle  of  the  man  of  affairs  to  ac- 
complish results  with  minimum  agencies  is 
perfectly  in  harmony  with  the  effort  of  the 
scientific  mind  to  establish  an  economy  of 
nature,  by  means  of  the  doctrines  of  the  in- 
destructibility of  matter,  the  conservation  of 
energy,  and  the  universality  of  law. 

The  Wide  Eange  of  the  Practical 

Men  of  affairs  learn  the  wide  range  of  the 
practical  by  discovering,  through  experience, 
how  numerous  are  the  uses  of  a  given  body 
of  knowledge.  Most  men  have  had  the  ex- 
perience of  acquiring  in  youth  some  out-of- 
the-way  body  of  knowledge,  or  some  unusual 
skill  or  talent,  and  of  having  been  surprised, 
in  later  life,  at  the  number  of  occasions  re- 
quiring its  use,  or  permitting  its  use  to  ad- 
vantage. It  has  been  said  that  any  one  sub- 
ject thoroughly  mastered  will  open  lines  of 
logical  connection  with  every  other  subject. 
To  this  thought  Tennyson  gave  poetic  ex- 
pression in  the  well-known  lines : 

Flower  in  the  crannied  wall, 

I  pluck  you  out  of  the  crannies, 

I  hold  you  here,   root  and  all,   in  my  hand, 

Little    flower — but    if    I    could    understand 

What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and   all  in  all, 

I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is. 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  135 

Certain  it  is  that  any  one  thing  well  mas- 
tered will  go  far  to  reveal  how  to  master 
anything  else.  The  man  who  demonstrates 
capacity  in  one  line  can  easily  convince  peo- 
ple that  he  possesses  it  in  other  lines.  Any 
virtue  or  ability  which  makes  friends  may 
be  a  stepping-stone  to  anything  else  which 
friendly  backing  can  provide. 

Men  of  science  learn  the  wide  range  of 
valuable  ideas  by  discovering  how  many 
things  are  able  to  throw  light  upon  a  given 
investigation.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  in  ad- 
vance which  of  the  results  of  an  investiga- 
tion will  be  the  starting  point  of  future  fruit- 
ful researches  and  applications.  Who  would 
have  considered  that  a  physician  practicing 
medicine  in  Java,  and  observing  that  the 
venous  blood  of  his  patients  was  a  brighter 
red  than  that  of  people  in  colder  zones,  had 
made  a  good  start  toward  the  enunciation, 
within  two  years,  of  the  world-embracing  doc- 
trine of  the  conservation  of  energy?  Such 
was  the  beginning  and  such  was  the  conclu- 
sion of  Mayer's  studies  between  1840  and 
1842.  New  ideas  come  by  a  process  of  mental 
cross-fertilization.  They  are  a  sort  of  elec- 
trical discharge  flashing  light  into  conscious- 
ness, as  two  storm-clouds  of  knowledge  ap- 


136  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

proach  each  other.  A  man  trained  to  think 
upon  one  line  alone  will  never  be  a  good 
judge  even  of  that,  for  he  has  not  the  per- 
spective by  which  to  distinguish  between  the 
essential  and  the  trivial.  To  accomplish  re- 
sults, men  of  science  have  learned  the  ne- 
cessity of  excluding  prejudices  and  precon- 
ceptions, and  even,  at  certain  stages  of  re- 
search, enthusiasms  and  specific  aims,  in 
order  to  keep  the  mind  completely  open  and 
receptive  to  impressions  from  all  sources. 
As  Gore  says:  "The  beginnings  of  discov- 
eries are  often  so  very  small,  that  it  requires 
acute  senses  and  observation  in  order  to  per- 
ceive them;  and  if  the  mind  is  preoccupied 
with  a  desire  to  discover  some  particular 
practical  object,  new  phenomena  are  over- 
looked." 

Great  truths  are  not  necessarily  great  in 
their  origins.  The  sensation  made  by  a  dis- 
covery comes  later,  when  the  corollaries  and 
resultants  are  perceived,  and  the  world  feels 
the  full  significance  of  what  has  been  dis- 
covered. A  new  truth  is  likely  to  creep  tim- 
idly into  some  carefully  prepared  and  wait- 
ing mind  as  a  hint  derived  from  some  puz- 
zling irregularity,  or  through  some  faintly 
remembered  analogy,  or  as  the  conclusion  of 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  137 

a  series  of  small  facts  which  build  up  to  it. 
The  truth  may  be  in  its  first  form  so  simple 
and  useless  that  it  has  been  discovered  and 
ignored  again  and  again,  passing  in  and  out 
of  the  mind  unnoticed.  Great  ideas  must 
often  pass  through  a  period  of  incubation 
in  which  they  are  dependent  upon  the  ma- 
ternal care  of  a  mind  able  to  perceive  large 
possibilities  in  little  occasions. 

Great  truths  are  not  necessarily  difficult  to 
understand.  Much  valuable  knowledge  has 
been  lost  because  investigators  would  con- 
sider that  only  to  be  important  which  was 
complex  or  abstruse.  Some  of  the  greatest 
ideas  have  been  the  simplest.  How  simple  is 
Bacon's  law,  which  forms  the  basis  of  the 
scientific  method,  namely,  that  things  which 
in  experience  agree  in  being  present,  or  ab- 
sent, and  in  varying  concomitantly,  are  con- 
nected! How  elementary  seems  Darwin's 
theory  of  evolution  through  variation  and 
selection,  or  Gutenberg's  invention  of  mova- 
ble type,  or  Bessemer 's  plan  of  reducing  the 
carbon  content  of  melted  pig-iron  with  a 
blast  of  air,  or  the  essential  mechanism  of 
the  telephone !  These  things  can  be  described 
in  a  few  words  and  understood  by  a  child, 
and  yet  what  results  they  have  wrought  upon 


138  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

the  earth!  The  ideas  involved  in  them  slept 
undiscovered,  just  beyond  the  veil  of  mys- 
tery, since  the  dawn  of  reason  on  the  earth, 
awaiting  an  age  with  flexible  temper,  and  an 
individual  mind  willing  to  regard  simple 
things  with  searching  attention.  How  many 
more  serviceable  ideas  are  yet  hidden,  await- 
ing the  unsophisticated  mind! 

Great  truths  do  not  necessarily  spring 
from  impressive  subjects.  The  origins  of 
great  ideas  are  frequently  most  humble. 
Eesidues  and  wastes,  unconsidered  remnants, 
slighted  phases,  unpopular  subjects,  and  do- 
mains of  thinking  marked  by  the  taboo  of 
popular  ridicule,  are  all  promising  fields  for 
great  discoveries.  We  are  just  beginning  to 
appreciate  the  significance  of  shop  wastes, 
minute  but  frequent  time  losses,  city  sewer- 
age, street  noises,  smoke,  the  tools  of  the  day 
laborer,  the  rest  periods  in  common  work, 
abandoned  farms,  domestic  science,  and 
many  other  things  which  have  been,  until 
recently,  considered  the  odds  and  ends  of  the 
world  of  thought.  The  very  neglect  of  a 
subject,  in  proportion  as  it  has  been  long 
continued,  means  that  it  is  a  harvest  field  for 
the  student,  which  has  not  been  reaped  clean. 
To  work  in  a  neglected  field  is  almost  as 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  139 

profitable  as  in  one  which  has  been  previously 
inaccessible.  A  prejudice  against  a  subject 
only  serves  to  reserve  and  protect  it  until 
the  first  bold  thinker  appears.  No  attitude 
of  mind  is  more  practical  than  that  which 
expects  valuable  suggestions  from  any  quar- 
ter, and  is  prepared  to  see  an  unimagined 
significance  grow  out  of  neglected  things. 
Again  and  again,  in  the  history  of  the  human 
mind,  has  "the  stone  which  the  builders  re- 
jected become  the  head  of  the  corner. ' f 

Nor  are  the  applications  of  great  ideas  nec- 
essarily dramatic,  complex,  or  aristocratic. 
The  valuable  physical  materials  of  the  world 
(in  their  aggregates)  are  not  gold  nor  silver 
nor  jewels,  but  soils  and  manure  and  pig-iron 
and  lumber.  Likewise,  the  great  principles 
which  control  the  mind  of  man  and  his  organ- 
ized activities  are  the  simple  basic  ones 
which,  in  the  lives  of  the  masses,  become  mul- 
tiplied to  colossal  aggregates  of  service.  To 
discover  a  law  of  soils  may  easily  be  a  million 
times  more  important  than  to  revolutionize 
the  art  of  cutting  gems ;  to  increase  by  a  frac- 
tion the  efficiency  of  every  man  who  lays 
brick  or  shovels  earth  may  mean  a  greater 
national  service  than  many  of  our  presidents 
have  achieved. 


140  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

The  man  of  affairs  should  take  care  to 
prevent  himself  from  falling  into  the  habit  of 
thinking  that  neglected  things  have  no  prob- 
lems worth  considering,  or  that  what  is  fa- 
miliar is  thoroughly  understood.  He  must 
beware  of  assuming  that  knowledge  comes 
only  through  the  kind  of  experience  he  has 
had,  or  that  the  outsider  can  give  him  no 
suggestions  for  improving  the  conduct  of  his 
business.  The  intensely  " practical' '  mind 
tends  to  conceive  experience  too  much  as 
action  and  not  enough  as  thinking,  too  much 
as  the  doings  of  individual  men  and  not 
enough  as  the  expression  of  the  basic  talents 
and  motives  of  human  nature,  too  much  as  a 
static  present  and  not  enough  as  the  con- 
tinuous evolution  of  the  past  into  the  future. 
By  so  doing  it  unduly  restricts  the  times, 
places,  subjects,  and  persons  from  which 
stimulus  and  guidance  may  originate  and 
come  to  it. 

Follow  the  Lead  of  the  Subject-Matter 

The  observations  of  the  untrained  mind 
are  imperfect ;  a  little  is  actually  seen,  by  far 
the  greater  part  is  inferred.  In  customary 
action  things  are  hastily  identified  by  a  few 
signs,  and  what  is  observed  is  supplemented 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  141 

by  bald  assumptions  and  carelessly  formed 
theories.    Says  Baldwin: 

Half  of  what  we  see  and  hear  never  comes  in  through 
our  senses  at  all,  but  is  made  up  outright — suggested  by 
scraps  and  hints  that  do  come  in  through  our  eyes  and 
ears.  In  a  foreign  land,  when  the  mind  is  not  so  ready 
to  fill  in  the  gaps  in  the  unfamiliar  language  we  hear,  one 
begins  to  appreciate  how  largely,  in  our  mother-tongue,  the 
mere  act  of  catching  the  sound  of  the  words,  not  to  say 
their  meaning,  is  a  matter  of  suggestion.  And  in  other 
ways  we  can  see  that  as  soon  as  things  grow  familiar  and 
suggestive,  it  is  impossible  ever  to  experience  them  again 
in  their  naked  reality;  what  the  bare  sense-impressions  call 
up  to  us  becomes  interwoven  with  them,  and  these  additions 
can  with  difficulty  be  distinguished  from  what  is  original. 
*  *  *  It  took  centuries  for  artists  to  see  that  the 
shadow  on  a  colored  surface  was  not  a  darker  tone  of  the 
same  color,  but  had  usually  something  in  it  of  the  com- 
plementary hue.  The  natural  preconception  as  to  what  the 
color  of  the  surface  ought  to  look  like,  from  having  seen 
it  in  a  clearer  light,  made  it  impossible  to  see  the  thing 
aright. 

Accurate,  keen,  fast,  and  complete  obser- 
vation is  a  rare  and  highly  prized  element 
in  all  mental  work.  To  attain  it  in  any  degree 
the  scientist  has  need  of  the  ideal  mind  de- 
scribed by  Francis  Bacon,  "versatile  enough 
for  that  most  important  object,  the  recogni- 
tion of  similarities,  and  at  the  same  time 
steady  and  concentrated  enough  for  the  ob- 
servation of  subtle  shades  of  difference," 
with  * '  a  power  of  suspending  judgment  with 


142  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

patience,  of  meditating  with  pleasure,  of 
asserting  with  caution,  of  correcting  false 
impressions  with  readiness/ '  willing  to 
arrange  thoughts  with  careful  pains,  without 
passion  either  for  antiquity  or  novelty,  and 
hating  imposture  in  every  shape.  The  true 
scientist  endeavors,  with  all  the  power  he 
possesses,  to  follow  the  lead  of  his  subject; 
to  fix  upon  it,  sense  its  most  delicate  hints, 
flexibly  follow  every  turn  and  winding,  and 
thoroughly  explore  all  aspects,  to  the  end  that 
he  may  finally  conceive  it  accurately,  justly, 
and  comprehensively.  Eesearch  is  a  pursuit 
— a  game  of  hide  and  seek.  In  it  the  mind 
should  follow  the  lead  of  the  subject  as  the 
nose  of  a  hound  clings  to  the  trail  of  the 
fox.  All  the  powers  of  observation  should 
be  let  loose  to  full,  free  activity,  by  the  joy 
of  action,  by  the  harmonious  concurrent 
working  of  the  senses  and  the  reason,  and 
by  a  blended  confidence  and  carelessness  as 
to  results.  Since  Descartes  formulated  the 
golden  rule  of  restricted  assent,  that  we 
should  give  unqualified  acceptance  to  no 
propositions  but  those  the  truth  of  which  is 
clearly  established,  it  has  been  the  ideal  of 
the  scientific  worker  to  emulate  that  great 
master  when  he  said,  "My  whole  intention 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  143 

was  to  arrive  at  a  certainty,  and  to  dig  away 
the  drift  and  sand  until  I  reached  the  rock 
or  the  clay  beneath.,, 

It  is  a  splendid  exercise  for  every  man,  at 
least  once  in  his  early  life,  to  throw  himself 
unreservedly,  and  with  enthusiasm,  into 
some  study,  and  for  a  time  "go  the  limit" 
in  thoroughness,  accuracy,  caution,  and  open- 
mindedness.  Such  an  experience  will  exert 
a  lasting  beneficial  influence  upon  his  think- 
ing. It  will  teach  him  respect  for  facts,  and 
give  him  some  ability  to  go  straight  to  them. 
It  will  reveal  the  joy  of  collecting  facts  care- 
fully, of  distinguishing  them  closely,  and  of 
formulating  their  law  with  precision.  It  will 
forever  after  make  it  easier  for  him  to  throw 
off  the  hampering  bonds  of  tradition  and 
habit  and  personal  bias. 

Good  observation  is  essential  to  good 
morals.  The  want  of  clear  thinking  is  one 
of  the  causes  which  leads  men  into  incon- 
sistencies, and  tempts  them  to  evade  their 
dilemma  by  false  pretenses.  The  double  load 
of  circumstances  thus  created — the  real  and 
the  pretended — leads  men  at  last  to  pro- 
nounce upon  themselves  a  secret  verdict  of 
inefficiency,  by  which  they  lose  the  captaincy 
of  their  own  powers.     "How  many  an  ac- 


144  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

tion,"  says  Gomperz  in  his  Greek  Thinkers, 
"injurious  to  the  common  welfare,  would 
have  been  left  unperformed,  had  not  a  veil 
of  misty  thought  concealed  from  the  doer 
of  it  the  fact  that  it  belonged  to  a  class  of 
actions  admitted  by  himself  to  be  reprehen- 
sible.'' 

Open-Mindedness 

To  follow  the  lead  of  the  subject-matter  is 
to  practice  ppen-mindedness  in  the  original 
investigation  by  which  the  first  judgment  on 
a  subject  is  formed.  To  show  open-minded- 
ness  is  to  follow  the  lead  of  the  subject-mat- 
ter when  it  demands  the  revision  of  a  judg- 
ment already  made. 

The  difficulty  experienced  in  altering  a  con- 
clusion lies  in  the  fact  that  any  belief  held 
by  the  mind  tends  to  banish  opposing  con- 
siderations, or  to  diminish  their  force.  A 
firm  believer  is  one  who  usually  continues 
gathering  fortifying  data,  and  slighting  op- 
posing evidence.  Darwin  said  in  his  Auto- 
biography : 

I  had,  during  many  years,  followed  a  golden  rule,  namely, 
that  whenever  a  published  fact,  a  new  observation  or 
thought  came  across  me,  which  was  opposed  to  my  general 
results,  to  make  a  memorandum  of  it  without  fail  and  at 
once;  for  I  had  found  by  experience  that  such  facts  and 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  145 

thoughts  were  far  more  apt  to  escape  from  the  memory  than 
favourable  ones.  Owing  to  this  habit,  very  few  objections 
were  raised  against  my  views  which  I  had  not  at  least 
noticed  and  attempted  to  answer. 

This  natural  difficulty  is  increased  when 
pride  takes  a  perverted  form,  and  empha- 
sizes consistency  with  one's  previous  pro- 
gram, rather  than  consistency  with  con- 
trolling truths.  Such  a  pride  is  mistaken,  for 
one  of  the  vital  distinctions  between  general 
principles  and  specific  programs  is  that  the 
latter  are  local  and  temporary,  while  the 
former  are  not.  Programs  are  based  upon 
assumptions  good  only  for  a  particular  time 
and  place.  Again,  such  a  pride  is  mistaken, 
because  it  misjudges  human  nature.  The  vir- 
tues which  spring  from  conceit  evoke  little 
sympathy  and  support  from  others.  Every- 
one loves  to  bring  the  truth  to  the  aid  of 
those  who  gratefully  receive  it  and  humbly 
modify  their  course  of  action  by  it.  On  the 
other  hand,  everyone  enjoys  using  truth  to 
humiliate  those  who  show  a  perverse  and 
stiff-necked  disregard  for  it. 

The  seeker  after  facts  must  keep  his  mind 
fluent  and  sensitive  and  teachable.  To  revise 
an  opinion  is  not  merely  to  eliminate  an 
error,  and  secure  a  specific  new  truth;  it  is, 
by  a  reflex  action  of  the  mind  upon  itself, 


146  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

to  refine  the  thinking  process,  much  as  a  pho- 
tographic plate  is  resensitized,  or  the  needle 
of  a  compass  is  remagnetized. 

The  philosopher  Nietzsche  has  given  to  men 
of  affairs  a  high  place,  with  respect  to  open- 
mindedness.  He  asserts  that  a  cautious  for- 
bearance in  judgment,  and  wise  moderation 
in  action — in  short,  the  scientific  spirit,  but 
without  being  defined  as  such — is  much  better 
known  in  practical  life  than  among  thinkers. 
The  man  of  action  who  develops  this  virtue 
deserves  great  credit,  for  he  does  so  under 
difficulties.  He  is  called  upon  to  apply  ten- 
tative conclusions  in  a  vital  public  way,  with- 
out drifting  into  a  practical  acceptance  of 
them  as  final,  and  without  committing  himself 
to  them  in  an  unintended  sense.  He  must  be 
able  to  feel  the  intense  pride  in  achievement 
which  is  the  characteristic  of  all  active  men, 
but  without  over-estimating  the  permanence 
of  the  results  secured.  He  must  be  able  to 
look  upon  the  old  as  the  fittest  which  has 
survived,  and  yet  perceive  that  the  longer 
the  old  has  stood  the  more  likely  it  is  that 
the  competitive  conditions  which  permitted  it 
have  changed  and  will  sweep  it  away.  The 
man  of  affairs  must  recognize  that  what  is 
widely  demanded  and  is,  perhaps,  most  prof- 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  147 

itable  to  supply  to  the  public,  or  most  easy 
to  use,  is  yet  likely  to  be  the  mediocre  thing, 
comfortable  to  the  average  mind,  rather  than 
the  finest  thing  which  expresses  the  best 
thought  of  the  time.  He  must  deal  constantly 
with  cramped  and  tradition-bound  minds,  and 
yet  keep  his  own  thought  free.  He  must  be 
able  to  set  precedents  which  express  a  prin- 
ciple, without  embalming  it;  and  to  accept 
truth  when  associated  with  insubordination, 
competition,  or  even  failure.  He  must  be 
able  to  turn  freely  from  action  to  delibera- 
tion, and  from  deliberation  back  to  action. 
He  must  live  his  life  strenuously,  and  yet 
strenuously  avoid  the  induration  of  ideas 
which  characteristically  marks  the  on-coming 
of  old  age. 

Exceptions  and  Failures  Reveal  New  Laws 

A  thorough  and  well-sustained  investiga- 
tion into  any  subject  has  the  effect  of  concen- 
trating attention  with  ever-increasing  inten- 
sity, as  the  work  progresses,  upon  the  re- 
siduum of  unexplained  or  exceptional  facts. 
The  degree  to  which  one  has  secured  knowl- 
edge of  any  subject,  or  has  learned  how  to 
secure  it,  may  be  judged  fairly  by  the  atten- 
tion given  to  exceptions.    The  beginnings  of 


148  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

studies  are  with  typical  and  normal  cases; 
their  conclusions  with  exceptions. 

An  old  maxim  is,  "The  exception  proves 
the  rule."  This  might  better  be  amended  to 
read,  "The  exception  reveals  a  new  rule." 
An  exception  shows  the  working  of  some 
force  not  accounted  for  by  the  rule.  It  re- 
veals something  new,  something  not  yet  un- 
derstood, something  remaining  to  be  done, 
a  promising  ground  for  a  new  start.  It  was 
said  of  Darwin,  "There  was  one  quality  of 
mind  which  seemed  to  be  of  special  and 
extreme  advantage  in  leading  him  to  make 
discoveries.  It  was  the  power  of  never  let- 
ting exceptions  pass  unnoticed.  *  *  *  These 
things  he  seized  upon  to  make  a  start  from. ' ' 

A  good  test  of  one's  ability  to  gather  new 
ideas  is  his  action  under  defeat.  The  severe 
rule  of  competition  compels  the  man  of  af- 
fairs to  "make  good"  with  useful  results, 
from  step  to  step  in  his  business  career,  in 
order  that  he  may  gain  resources  and  the  con- 
fidence of  others,  with  which  to  attempt  the 
next  greater  achievement.  Failure  has  for 
him  a  peculiarly  sinister  sound.  It  not  in- 
frequently happens,  therefore,  that  when 
failure  overtakes  an  executive,  the  agitation 
springing  from  his  hatred  and  fear  of  it,  and 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  149 

the  preoccupation  resulting  from  his  effort 
to  evade  or  ignore  it,  cause  him  to  banish  the 
details  of  it  from  mind  without  attentive  con- 
sideration. The  helpful  ministry  of  failure 
is  thus  lost.  Like  Simon  Ingott,  he  reads 
1 '  Much  Ado  About  Nothing/ '  and  sees  no 
point  in  the  phrase,  " Adversity's  sweet 
milk." 

The  scientist,  working  with  a  longer  tether, 
and  with  a  mind  composed  to  accept  delay 
and  round-about  methods  with  equanimity, 
has  learned  better  how  to  utilize  failures. 
He  does  not  ignore  them,  nor  turn  his  back 
upon  them,  but  on  the  contrary,  he  fastens 
with  special  eagerness  and  tenacity  upon 
them.  To  the  scientist,  failure  is  a  means 
of  discovering  truth  only  a  little  less  direct 
than  success.  It  proves  how  a  thing  cannot 
be  done  and,  in  so  doing,  closes  up  one  of 
the  by-paths  down  which  investigation  might 
turn. 

It  is  partly  the  paralysis  produced  by  the 
fear  of  failure  which  makes  failure  danger- 
ous. One  of  the  causes  of  undue  fear  is  ex- 
aggerated pride  and  self-consciousness. 
When  pride  is  controlled,  hostility  to  oppos- 
ing opinion,  and  panic  under  failure,  disap- 
pear.   The  result  is  a  serene  and  objective 


150  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

temper,  like  that  for  which  Julius  Caesar  was 
noted.  With  such  a  temper  the  intelligence 
is  flexible  enough  to  turn  in  whatever  direc- 
tion significant  facts  lie,  and  to  receive  in- 
struction even  from  enemies.  Thus  a  man 
may  add  to  himself  a  new  resource,  namely, 
the  suggestion  derived  from  the  investigation 
of  his  own  disappointments. 

One  of  the  reasons  given  by  Draper  for  the 
great  mental  efficiency  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury is  the  friendly  eclectic  attitude  which 
came  to  prevail,  which  recognized  few  differ- 
ences as  irreconcilable,  and  avoided  sharp- 
ening them  into  hostilities.  ' •  The  question, ' ? 
said  Draper,  "is  no  longer  whether  a  par- 
ticular doctrine  or  its  opposite  is  true,  but 
what  are  the  elements  of  truth  and  error  in 
each  of  them,  and  how  can  we  attain  to  a 
comprehensive  view  of  things,  in  which  jus- 
tice is  done  to  both." 

Thokoughness 

Thoroughness  is  the  virtue  which  results 
when  energy  is  brought  to  bear  upon  care- 
fully circumscribed  aims.  "High  knowledge 
and  great  strength,"  says  Emerson,  "are 
within  the  reach  of  every  man  who  unflinch- 
ingly enacts  his  best."    The  virtues  of  thor- 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  151 

oughness  have  been  preached  until  they  are 
trite.  It  is  not  only  the  merit  of  science  that 
it  reenforces  this  teaching,  but  also  that  it 
gives  us  a  new  definition  of  what  constitutes 
accuracy  and  thoroughness. 

In  the  long  series  of  scrupulously  careful 
weighings  of  nitrogen,  performed  by  Lord 
Eayleigh,  a  constant  discrepancy  of  less  than 
one-half  of  one  per  cent  led  to  the  discovery 
of  argon,  and  other  minor  constituents  of  the 
atmosphere.  In  determining  the  latitude  of 
the  Radcliffe  telescope  at  Oxford,  by  means 
of  repeated  and  elaborately  exact  determina- 
tions, the  error  was  brought  within  1.02  sec- 
onds, or  thirty-four  yards  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth.  From  the  eight  tons  of  concen- 
trates, treated  during  two  years  by  the 
Curies  at  Paris,  there  was  only  as  much 
radium  recovered  as  could  be  heaped  in  a 
salt  spoon.  By  such  work  scientists  have 
shown  what  thoroughness  can  be  made  to 
mean  in  terms  of  accuracy. 

In  Newton's  eighteen  years  of  work  upon 
a  missing  link  in  his  explanation  of  the  orbit 
of  the  moon,  and  in  Darwin's  twenty- two 
years  of  work  upon  the  origin  of  species, 
from  the  opening  of  the  first  note  book  in 
July,  1837,  to  the  completion  of  the  finished 


152  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

work  in  November,  1859,  scientists  have 
shown  ns  what  a  portion  of  the  world's  work 
requires  in  the  way  of  patience. 

There  is  certainly  something  to  be  learned 
by  men  of  affairs  from  such  a  spirit  and  such 
ideals.  They  show  what  it  is  possible  to  do. 
It  is  a  stimulus  to  the  timid  or  weary  to 
know  that  others  have  dared  vastly  more 
than  they,  and  have  succeeded.  These 
achievements  of  the  human  spirit  scientists 
offer  for  the  encouragement  of  any  man  who 
works  in  the  world  of  ideas.  "Few  things,' ' 
said  Eochef oucauld, ' '  are  impossible  in  them- 
selves ;  the  application  to  make  them  succeed 
fails  us  more  often  than  the  means." 

Methods  Are  More  Valuable  Than  Eesults 

For  the  intelligent  understanding  of  any 
art,  or  craft,  or  professional  activity,  it  is 
essential  to  distinguish  between  methods  and 
results.  As  a  rule,  good  methods  alone  bring 
satisfactory  results  in  industry  a«  elsewhere. 
The  exceptions  to  this  rule  are,  unfortu- 
nately, very  numerous.  Carefully  planned 
actions  sometimes  end  in  unpredictable  dis- 
aster while,  on  the  other  hand,  in  a  favored 
land  like  ours,  which  drops  fatness,  many 
persons  have  acquired  wealth  by  stupid  and 


MENTAL   EFFICIENCY  153 

anti-social  means.  Many  great  estates  in 
America  are  flabby  hulks  of  property,  hang- 
ing together  because  they  happen  never  to 
have  been  challenged  to  economic  combat  by 
first-class  ability.  They  resemble  antedilu- 
vian monsters  of  low  organization,  flounder- 
ing in  the  economic  mire  of  a  new  and  boun- 
tifully endowed  land.  Their  pretensions,  as 
oracles  of  economic  wisdom,  constitute  a 
pseudo-science  of  industry  with  which  every 
student  of  business  administration  is  com- 
pelled to  deal.  They  really  testify  merely 
to  the  richness  of  the  feeding  where  they 
were  grown.  Such  estates  can  be  found 
where  ignorant  immigrant  labor,  unable  to 
defend  itself  as  does  the  native,  has  been 
exploited;  where  over-grown  industrial  in- 
fants have  successfully  cried  for  prohibitive 
tariffs ;  where  principalities  of  public  domain 
have  been  seized  by  circumventing  antiquated 
land  laws;  and  where  small  investors,  too 
much  devoted  to  their  life  work  as  teachers, 
doctors,  or  mothers,  to  master  the  intricacies 
of  the  American  " science' '  of  promoting, 
have  been  fleeced.  To  study  such  enterprises, 
with  the  idea  of  discovering  methods  appro- 
priate to  a  respectable  and  permanent  science 
of  industry  would  be  about  as  intelligent  as 


154  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

to  study  the  unfortunate  fat  boys  of  dime 
museums  to  discover  the  road  to  health. 

On  the  other  hand,  American  industry 
abounds  with  men  and  industrial  establish- 
ments whose  histories  are  significant  for  the 
future  of  industrial  affairs.  Engineering 
has  never  been  more  dramatic  and  coura- 
geous than  in  American  railway  construc- 
tion; merchandising  has  never  gone  further 
in  offers  of  service  and  guarantees  of  satis- 
faction than  in  American  department  stores 
and  mail-order  houses.  A  nearer  approach 
to  the  scientific  control  of  industrial  opera- 
tions has  probably  never  been  made  in  the 
world's  history  than  in  those  establishments 
now  employing  "scientific  management. ' ' 
There  are  men  in  this  country  who  have 
shown  the  world  how  to  save  time  and  toil, 
how  to  meet  the  unexpected  with  infinite  re- 
sourcefulness, and  how  to  preserve  an  un- 
sullied personal  honesty  under  the  cloak  of 
corporate  organization.  There  are  leaders 
who,  without  systematic  training  in  youth, 
have  yet  built  up  a  new  science  of  affairs, 
the  principles  of  which  can  be  taught  to  the 
coming  generations. 

Few  things  will  help  forward  the  science 
of  industrial  administration  more  than  to 


' 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  155 

drop  the  old  question,  "How  much  is  he 
worth V9  and  press  the  new  one,  "How  did  he 
get  it!"  A  true  aristocracy  will  never  be 
formed  in  American  industry  until  all  good 
men  unite  to  draw  the  lines  sharply,  and 
resolve  to  give  honor  only  to  those  who  have 
shown  the  capacity  to  observe  accurately,  to 
think  straight,  to  preserve  their  ideals,  and 
to  develop  productive  rather  than  predatory 
industries. 

In  the  long  run,  methods  are  infinitely 
more  important  to  industry  than  the  results 
which  at  any  given  moment  embody  their 
effects.  The  prevalence  of  honorable  and 
efficient  methods  is  the  only  thing  which  can 
keep  open  the  road  to  future  achievements. 
The  first  care,  therefore,  of  the  business  com- 
munity should  be  sound  methods.  We  hear 
much  of  governmental  and  other  reforms 
which  are  feared  because  they  will  disturb 
business.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  there  is 
hardly  any  probable  destruction  of  property 
which  will  not,  in  the  long  run,  prove  im- 
mensely profitable,  if  it  is  the  price  which 
must  be  paid  for  a  superior  method.  To 
say  this  is  merely  to  apply  the  well-estab- 
lished American  principle  of  scrapping  obso- 
lete equipment,  to  the  problem  of  getting  rid 


156  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

of  superseded  and  worn-out  methods   and 
policies. 

The  paramount  value  of  methods  was  em- 
phasized by  Mr.  Carnegie,  when  he  said, 
1  'Take  away  all  our  factories,  our  trade,  our 
avenues  of  transportation,  our  money;  leave 
me  our  organization,  and  in  four  years  I 
shall  have  reestablished  myself.' '  Results 
change  from  day  to  day;  scientific  methods 
are  a  heritage  of  intangible  capital  of  more 
permanent  value.  Eesults  represent  past 
conditions;  methods  prepare  for  what  is  to 
come.  To  possess  efficient  methods  is  to  have 
the  power  to  recover  lost  results,  or  to  re- 
place obsolete  results  at  will ;  but  to  possess 
results  with  inadequate  methods  is  to  begin 
at  once  to  fall  behind.  Results  may  be  ac- 
quired by  accident ;  methods  are  transmitted 
only  by  the  slow  growth  of  habits.  Results 
may  be  easily  transferred ;  to  the  attainment 
of  superior  methods  there  is  happily  no 
royal  road. 


Chapter  IX 

THE    PRINCIPLES    OF   MENTAL 
EFFICIENCY   (Continued) 

'HP  HEBE  are  certain  advantages  character- 
A  istic  of  each  of  the  different  stages  of 
any  long-continued  course  of  study.  The 
beginnings  are  marked  by  a  certain  buoyancy 
and  fertility  of  suggestion,  and  by  vivid  con- 
sciousness of  details.  More  advanced  effort 
is  marked  by  grouped  handling,  ready  and 
semi-automatic  action,  and  sustained  and  as- 
sured power.  The  light  of  reason  is,  at  the 
beginning,  a  series  of  brilliant  flashes ;  later 
on,  it  becomes  a  more  steady  but  less  pene- 
trating glow.  At  first  the  thought  flies  with 
light  freedom  and  unconventionality  from 
one  boundary  of  the  subject  to  another,  re- 
vealing the  most  unexpected  relationships; 
it  later  moves  with  more  force,  but  greater 
circumspection,  in  definitely  prescribed  chan- 
nels. 

It  is  the  general  opinion  that  the  advantage 
of  thoroughness  is  within  the  reach  of  any 
well-endowed  person  who  will,  with  tenacity, 
work  himself  deeply  into  the  heart  of  his 
subject;  but  that  the  virtue  of  originality  is 
157 


158  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

the  exclusive  privilege  of  talent.  While  there 
is  truth  in  this  belief,  it  seems  reasonable  to 
say  that  the  talents  which  fit  a  traveler  to 
become  familiar  with  a  well-settled  country 
should,  in  some  degree,  qualify  him  to  ex- 
plore a  new  one.  Is  not  originality,  indeed, 
a  sort  of  tenacity  in  asking  questions  about 
a  subject,  and  in  keeping  one's  self  in  the 
initial  stage  of  free  inquiry?  If  thorough- 
ness comes  from  tenacity  in  penetrating  into 
a  subject,  does  not  originality  come  from 
tenacity  in  opening  new  avenues  to  it,  view- 
ing it  in  new  perspectives,  and  in  bringing 
it  into  comparison  with  all  things? 

The  Fertility  of  a  New  Point  of  View 

The  fertility  of  a  new  point  of  view  lies 
in  the  fact  that  when  two  bodies  of  ideas, 
never  before  united,  are  brought  into  com- 
parison, the  mind  observes  relationships,  and 
draws  conclusions,  which  cannot  otherwise  be 
attained.  From  any  given  body  of  facts  the 
number  of  useful  conclusions  which  can  be 
inferred  is  limited.  Further  advance  in 
thinking  then  awaits  the  introduction  of  new 
facts.  The  original  mind  is  one  which,  more 
perseveringly  and  boldly  than  others,  travels 
up  and  down  through  the  world  of  ideas  for 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  159 

new  facts,  and  brings  them  into  comparison 
with  that  which  it  desires  to  understand. 

Industrial  literature  recognizes  the  value 
of  the  ' '  outside  point  of  view. ' '  This  is  based 
upon  the  realization  that  every  mind  which 
considers  a  matter  brings  into  comparison 
with  what  it  sees  a  fund  of  experiences  and 
stock  of  previous  knowledge  somewhat  differ- 
ent from  that  of  any  other  mind.  Every 
mind  has  its  own  viewpoint,  and  can  make 
a  unique  contribution  of  ideas,  however  hum- 
ble. If  a  superintendent  who  has  just  rem- 
edied great  losses  in  haulage  and  handling 
visits  an  industrial  establishment,  he  is  likely 
to  see  its  practice  with  reference  to  the  move- 
ment of  materials  with  a  more  intense  and 
suggestive  vision  than  the  managers  them- 
selves. A  teacher,  trained  in  child  psychol- 
ogy, may  instantly  observe  that  youths  in  an 
office  or  factory  are  assigned  to  tasks  for 
which  the  corresponding  faculties  have  not 
yet  sufficiently  developed.  A  diplomat,  or 
an  alienist,  may  detect  in  a  staff  the  evi- 
dences of  strain,  invisible  to  those  who  are 
adjusted  to  the  situation  by  familiarity.  An 
insurance  adjuster  may  see  easily  avoidable 
sources  of  fire  risk.  A  doctor  may  notice 
the  bad  air;  and  an  engineer  may  observe 


160  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

the  over-run  of  machines.  Men  differ,  not 
so  much  in  perceptive  powers,  as  in  their 
skill  or  good  fortune  in  working  themselves 
into  new  and  productive  points  of  view,  while 
others  are  hampered  by  looking  from  the  tra- 
ditional angle. 

There  are  various  suggestions  which  may 
be  of  service  in  attaining  new  points  of  view. 
One  is  to  consider,  in  turn,  the  various  prop- 
erties or  aspects  of  the  thing  concerned.  A 
machine  may  be  considered  with  reference  to 
the  use  of  power,  economy  of  materials,  out- 
put, skill  of  attendant,  fatigue  of  attendant, 
rate  of  depreciation,  liability  of  accident, 
cost,  accessibility,  repairability,  etc.  An  ad- 
ministration may  be  judged  as  a  system  of 
checks  and  balances,  a  solidarity  of  interests, 
a  repository  of  information,  a  teaching 
agency,  a  center  of  enthusiasm,  a  judge  of 
rewards  and  penalties,  a  promotion  ladder, 
a  disciplinary  power,  a  trustee  of  capital 
interests,  an  exponent  of  the  operative's 
welfare. 

Another  rule  is  to  assume  the  increase  and 
dominance,  or  the  diminution  and  elimina- 
tion, of  any  factor  or  tendency,  and  inquire 
what  the  consequences  would  be,  and  how 
they  could  be  met.     Mr.  Lewis'  article  in 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  161 

The  Engineering  Magazine  for  January, 
1901,  is  an  excellent  example  of  this  kind  of 
study.  Still  another  suggestion,  allied  to  the 
last,  is  to  search  out  and  study  those  cases 
in  which  the  particular  phase  or  agency  of 
performance  under  consideration  has  been 
specially  stressed,  as  where  good  results  have 
been  attained  in  spite  of  extraordinary  dif- 
ficulties, or  where  exceptional  results  have 
been  achieved  under  ordinary  conditions. 

One  of  the  chief  enemies  of  originality  is 
the  prestige  of  the  established  order  of 
things.  The  current  methods  of  thinking  and 
acting  have  the  advantage  of  being  embodied 
in  tangible  forms.  The  constant  repetition  of 
stock  opinions  tends  to  wear  ruts  of  accept- 
ance in  all  but  the  most  independent  minds. 
Custom  and  tradition  are  valuable  to  pre- 
serve the  heritage  of  knowledge  already 
gained,  but  they  serve,  nevertheless,  as  cur- 
tains to  shut  in  and  darken  the  mind,  and 
prevent  it  from  seeing  in  each  day  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  life. 

Civilization  is  passing  out  of  a  period  of 
traditional  knowledge  into  one  of  scientific 
knowledge.  There  still  survives,  however,  in 
many  fields  of  practical  action,  an  intellectual 
timidity,  proper  to  empirical  knowledge,  but 


162  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

which  science  has  long  since  cast  aside  as  no 
longer  essential  to  self-preservation.  The 
remedy  for  such  timidity  is  the  introduction 
of  scientific  methods. 

Unity  of  Principle  in  Variety  of 
Embodiment 

The  mediaeval  ecclesiastical  conception 
made  of  history  the  record  of  the  interference 
of  an  over-ruling  divine  wisdom  in  human 
affairs.  When,  in  the  Kenaissance,  men  be 
gan  to  look  upon  past  events  as  the  record  of 
the  temper  of  men,  and  of  their  vices  and 
virtues,  it  was  found  possible  to  discover 
principles  of  social  action ;  and  so  the  science 
of  politics  was  founded.  A  change  analo- 
gous to  this  is  now  going  on  with  reference 
to  business  administration.  Public  opinion 
has  been  looking,  with  open-mouthed  awe, 
at  the  doings  of  business  leaders,  and  at  the 
complex  mechanism  of  industrial  enterprises. 
These  things  have  been  esteemed  the  records 
of  supermen,  whose  doings  are  above  human 
nature,  and  beyond  formulation  into  laws. 
But  public  opinion  is  changing.  This  genera- 
tion is  not  so  over-awed  by  the  Captains  of 
Industry.  It  now  sees  in  business,  for  the 
most  part,  ordinary  human  nature  in  calcu 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  163 


lable  movements.  It  perceives  that  there  is 
a  rational  ordering  of  authority  and  respon- 
sibility wherever  efficient  joint  action  takes 
place.  And  so  a  science  of  administration  is 
coming  into  existence.  The  science  comes 
now,  not  because  the  principles  are  for  the 
first  time  at  work  in  the  world,  but  because 
the  advance  of  thinking  has  melted  away 
interfering  preconceptions,  so  that  men  are 
at  last  free  to  turn  and  look  at  the  facts. 

There  is  but  a  comparatively  small  number 
of  underlying  administrative  principles ;  but 
there  are  in  the  world  of  affairs  endless  adap- 
tations and  combinations  of  these  elements 
into  policies  and  programs.  To  perceive 
that  problems  of  administration  are  prob- 
lems of  human  nature,  to  understand  basic 
principles  rather  than  mere  corollaries  or 
specific  derivations  of  them,  and  to  perceive 
under  a  wide  variety  of  circumstances  the 
occasions  which  call  for  a  single  rule,  is  to 
sweep  away  much  superficial  complication, 
and  to  attain  administrative  insight.  With 
a  knowledge  of  principles,  the  administrator 
can  steer  through  the  heterogeneity  of  af- 
fairs, as  a  pilot,  steering  by  the  stars,  keeps 
to  his  course,  regardless  of  the  direction  of 
wind  and  waves. 


164  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

By  diligently  exercising  himself  in  the 
recognition  of  administrative  principles,  the 
student  will  find  his  eyes  opened  to  evidences 
of  their  operation  in  all  forms  of  associated 
effort.  If  administration  has  to  do  with 
human  nature,  anything  which  extends  the 
executive's  knowledge  of  human  nature  con- 
firms his  grasp  of  its  principles.  The  execu- 
tive may  assert  that  he  is  interested  only  in 
industrial  affairs,  but  if  he  will  admit  that 
one  of  the  tasks  of  industrial  organization  is 
to  educate  men  for  their  functions,  he  thereby 
admits  that  the  business  executive  may 
profitably  study  school  administration  and 
pedagogical  principles.  If  discipline  is  an 
industrial  function,  the  history  of  war  will 
be  pertinent.  If  investigations  have  to  be 
made,  science  can  show  how  to  conduct  re- 
search and  weigh  evidence.  In  short,  the  field 
from  which  a  knowledge  of  administrative 
principles  can  be  gleaned  is  precisely  as  ex- 
tensive as  the  application  of  those  principles 
in  human  society. 

This  underlying  structure  of  administra- 
tive principles,  upon  which  are  based  all 
human  affairs,  Socrates  once  revealed  to  a 
disappointed  candidate  for  military  office,  by 
showing  him  how  the  qualities  essential  to 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  165 

good  generalship  are  employed  by  the  mer- 
chant who  is  able  to  collect  a  stock  of  goods, 
the  leader  of  a  chorus  who  is  able  to  select 
competent  teachers,  and  the  manager  who 
can  order  the  affairs  of  the  large  classical 
household,  with  its  dependent  slaves.  When 
his  friend  protested,  saying,  "By  Jupiter, 
Socrates,  I  should  never  have  expected  to 
hear  from  you  that  good  managers  of  a  fam- 
ily would  also  be  good  generals,' '  Socrates 
responded : 

Come  then,  let  us  consider  what  are  the  duties  of  each 
of  them.  Is  it  not,  then,  the  duty  of  both,  to  render  those 
under   their   command   obedient    and   submissive    to   them? 

Unquestionably. 

Is  it  not  also  the  duty  of  both  to  intrust  various  employ- 
ments to  such  as  are  fitted  to  execute  them? 

That  is  also  unquestionable. 

To  punish  the  bad,  and  to  honor  the  good,  too,  belongs, 
I  think,  to  each  of  them. 

Undoubtedly. 

And  is  it  not  honorable  to  both  to  render  those  under 
them  well-disposed  towards  them? 

That  also  is  certain. 

And  do  you  think  it  for  the  interest  of  both  to  gain  for 
themselves  allies  and  auxiliaries  or  not? 

It  assuredly  is  for  their  interest. 

Is  it  not  proper  for  both  also  to  be  careful  of  their 
resources? 

Assuredly. 

And  is  it  not  proper  for  both,  therefore,  to  be  attentive 
and  industrious  in  their  respective  duties? 


166  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

In  conclusion,  Socrates  brought  the  matter 
back  to  the  principles  of  human  nature,  say- 
ing: 

Do  not,  therefore,  despise  men  skillful  in  managing  a 
household;  for  the  conduct  of  private  affairs  differs  from 
that  of  public  concerns  only  in  magnitude;  in  other  respects 
they  are  similar;  but  what  is  most  to  be  observed  is  that 
neither  of  them  are  managed  without  men,  and  that  private 
matters  are  not  managed  by  one  species  of  men,  and  public 
matters  by  another;  for  those  who  conduct  public  busi- 
ness make  use  of  men  not  at  all  differing  in  nature  from 
those  whom  the  managers  of  private  affairs  employ;  and 
those  who  know  how  to  employ  them  conduct  either  public 
or  private  affairs  judiciously,  while  those  who  do  not  know 
will  err  in  the  management  of  both. 

It  remains  only  to  add  that  the  writer  who 
recorded  the  above  conversation  with  ap- 
proval was  Xenophon,  one  of  the  most  noted 
generals  of  ancient  times,  and  the  hero  of 
The  Eetreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand. 

To  master  his  science,  the  administrator 
should  practice  himself  as  a  mental  athlete 
in  seizing  his  principles  under  whatever 
guise  or  outward  seeming  they  present  them- 
selves. He  should  strip  them  to  the  bone 
of  their  essential  truth,  and  clothe  them  again 
with  the  details  appropriate  to  specific  appli- 
cations. The  administrator  should  look  for 
his  principles  everywhere,  and  set  for  himself 
problems  in  carrying  them  from  field  to  field, 


MENTAL   EFFICIENCY  167 

from  industry  to  industry,  from  club  to  col- 
lege, from  church  to  state;  adjusting  them 
always  with  a  scrupulous  regard  for  pro- 
priety, worthy  traditions,  the  delicacies  of 
human  sentiment,  and  other  factors  of 
change. 

Co-operation 

Industry  and  science  agree  in  making  large 
use  of  that  simple  form  of  co-operation,  com- 
monly known  as  the  division  of  labor,  by 
which  persons  of  unlike  genius  are  united 
in  the  same  enterprise,  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  different  functions. 

The  dawn  of  modern  science  in  Europe 
presented,  in  the  life  history  of  two  noted 
men,  a  striking  instance  of  the  benefits  of 
individual  co-operation.  Tycho  Brahe,  the 
leading  astronomer  of  the  latter  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  was  a  nobleman  of  proud 
spirit  and,  by  reason  of  a  certain  dramatic 
talent  which  attracted  attention,  able  to 
secure  from  his  royal  patrons  large  grants 
for  astronomical  apparatus.  He  was  an  ex- 
pert instrument  maker,  and  an  accurate  ob- 
server. His  life  was  spent  largely  in  com- 
piling tables  of  observations  of  planetary 
movements.     Kepler,  who  came  under  his 


168  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

patronage,  and  who  worked  with  him  for 
many  years,  was  a  poor  observer,  suffering 
from  defective  eyesight.  He  was  awkward  in 
his  movements,  and  possessed  little  mechani- 
cal ability.  He  was,  however,  a  good  mathe- 
matician, and  he  possessed  the  rare  ability 
to  become  enthusiastic  over  statistical  calcu- 
lations. The  five  laws  of  planetary  motion 
which  Kepler  discovered,  and  the  Eudolphine 
tables  which  he  completed,  are  monuments  to 
a  splendid  and  devoted  co-operation  between 
two  geniuses  of  entirely  different  endow- 
ments. 

Applied  science  has  a  similar  example  of 
fruitful  co-operation,  in  the  case  of  Isaac 
Watt  and  Matthew  Boulton.  Watt  has  de- 
scribed himself  in  the  following  words:  "I 
am  not  enterprising.  I  would  rather  face  a 
loaded  cannon  than  settle  an  account  or  make 
a  bargain ;  in  short,  I  find  myself  out  of  my 
sphere  when  I  have  anything  to  do  with  man- 
kind.' '  Boulton  was  a  man  of  affairs,  full 
of  energy  and  common  sense,  and  possessed 
of  property.  He  is  remembered  because  he 
was  able  to  perceive  and  respect  the  talent 
of  a  man  entirely  different  from  himself,  and 
because  he  tenderly  encouraged  and  coura- 
geously defended  that  genius  through  mani- 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  169 

fold  attacks  and  disappointments,  to  the  last- 
ing benefit  of  the  world. 

There  are  abundant  illustrations  of  the 
fruitful  co-operation  of  men  of  different  tal- 
ents, in  business.  There  are  even  enough 
men  of  wealth  ready  to  enter  into  an  arm's- 
length  alliance  with  science  and  education,  by- 
means  of  a  cold  bequest.  But  there  is  a  wait- 
ing opportunity  for  men  of  affairs  to  go  into 
living,  daily  partnership  with  the  arts  and 
sciences,  by  entering  into  close  personal  rela- 
tionships with  men  who  need  the  help  of  a 
natural  administrator  to  make  their  contri- 
bution to  progress.  A  good  many  captains 
of  industry  might  weave  their  names  firmly 
into  the  fabric  of  history,  as  did  Boulton,  by 
aiding  some  delicate  flower  of  genius  with 
energetic  counsel  and  a  wise  corrective  in- 
fluence. 

One  form  of  co-operation  is  publicity. 
Thomas  Hobbes,  the  seventeenth-century 
philosopher,  said:  "Whoever  has  the  legis- 
lature or  supreme  power  of  any  common- 
wealth, is  bound  to  govern  by  established 
standing  laws,  promulgated  and  known  to  the 
people,  and  not  by  extemporary  decrees.' ' 
Have  widely-known  "established  standing 
laws' '  any  advantage  for  the  private  admin- 


170  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

istrator  ?  They  have,  for  one  thing,  the  effect 
of  putting  the  executive  upon  his  mettle,  by 
bringing  home  to  him  the  seriousness  of  what 
he  is  doing.  One  of  the  most  effective  ways 
by  which  an  administrator  can  attain  con- 
sistency is  to  hedge  about  his  important  ac- 
tions by  a  certain  formality  and  publicity, 
which  recalls  him  to  a  full  consciousness  of 
what  he  is  doing.  Out  of  the  habit  of  con- 
sidering the  bearing  of  specific  acts  upon  the 
general  program,  some  sort  of  a  philosophy 
of  administration  is  sure  to  grow. 

Another  advantage  of  "established  stand- 
ing laws"  is  that  they  meet  the  full  force  of 
public  opinion.  They  exterminate  false 
rumors,  draw  the  fire  of  critics,  attract  posi- 
tive contributions  of  value,  and  give  a  favor- 
able impression  of  strength  and  fairness. 

There  is  an  intermediate  scale  of  co-opera- 
tion, larger  than  the  personal  form,  and  yet 
not  nation-wide.  It  is  illustrated  in  the  in- 
formal working  together  of  a  number  of  per- 
sons (as  a  profession),  or  institutions  (as  a 
trade),  for  such  objects  as  the  fixing  of 
standards,  the  regulation  of  fundamental 
conditions,  the  performance  of  valuable  but 
non-profit-bearing  undertakings,  and  the 
establishment  of  a  reasonable  and  mediating 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  171 

temper  of  mind.  Science  and  industry  are 
at  opposite  poles  in  the  use  of  this  type  of 
joint  action.  Science  uses  it  to  a  marked 
degree,  industry  but  little.  In  science  the 
rule  of  publicity  of  all  improvements  and 
discoveries  is  supreme.  Each  individual 
strives  to  "  clarify  his  notions  by  filtering 
them  through  other  minds, ' '  as  Samuel  John- 
son advised.  Each  is  proud  to  have  stim- 
ulated others,  and  each  builds  on  the  work 
of  others.  Scientific  standards  are  main- 
tained by  means  of  societies,  which  bring  out 
the  ideas  of  the  best  minds,  and  harmonize 
the  results.  The  common  use  of  like  research 
methods,  and  apparatus,  and  terminology  is 
considered,  in  science,  simple  common  sense. 

The  great  enemy  of  co-operation,  in  all  of 
its  forms,  is  competition.  In  industry  the 
half-truth, ' i  Competition  is  the  life  of  trade, ' f 
still  circulates  from  mind  to  mind  without 
its  qualifying  clause,  * '  Where  trade  is  in  the 
hands  of  indolent  or  dishonest  persons.' ' 
Industry  is  so  weakened  by  the  losses  of  in- 
ternecine warfare  that  it  tolerates  such  in- 
efficiencies as  unstandardized  accounts,  un- 
necessary duplication,  useful  facts  smothered 
as  trade  secrets,  perpetual  dispute  as  to  fun- 
damental principles,  unstandardized  and  un- 


172  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

reliable  vocabulary,  meaningless  variations 
in  merchandise,  and  colossal  wastes  in  dis- 
tribution. 

The  possibilities  of  individual  enterprise 
have  been  pretty  thoroughly  mapped  out  by 
the  last  generation  of  business  executives. 
There  still  remains  a  new  world  of  welfare 
to  explore  through  group  enterprise.  When 
our  captains  of  industry  shall  be  broadened 
to  take  pride  in  the  achievements  of  indus- 
tries and  cities  and  regions  (as  now  occasion- 
ally happens  when  a  city  rebuilds  after  a  fire, 
or  a  local  exposition  is  being  promoted)  much 
of  the  energy  now  lost  in  competition  will 
be  saved  for  useful  work. 

The  Correlation  of  the  Arts  and  Sciences 

Culture,  the  sciences,  and  the  industrial 
arts  are  stimulated  by  much  the  same  condi- 
tions. In  the  seventh  and  sixth  centuries 
B.  C,  the  conditions  which  aroused  the  Greek 
settlements  led  almost  simultaneously  to  the 
rise  of  industry,  the  fine  arts,  and  systematic 
thinking.  In  the  Italian  Renaissance  the  new 
ideas  derived  from  contact  with  the  East  in 
trade,  and  with  the  ancients  in  culture,  pro- 
duced not  only  the  merchant-princes  of 
Florence  and  Venice,  but  also  the  artists,  and 


MENTAL   EFFICIENCY  173 

the  pioneers  of  science.  In  America,  today, 
conditions  resemble  those  which  existed  in 
the  periods  just  mentioned.  Here  there  is 
not  only  boundless  opportunity,  but  the  old- 
world  traditions  which  would  have  closed 
these  opportunities  to  the  masses  have  been 
broken.  Here  the  contrasts  between  rich 
and  poor  are  so  sharp  as  to  awaken  even  the 
dullest  minds  to  the  drama  of  life.  Inasmuch 
as  people  are  aroused  in  proportion  as  that 
which  they  desire  seems  attainable  to  them, 
a  bold  and  even  audacious  courage  prevails ; 
talent  is  keenly  appreciated,  and  an  immense 
fund  of  energy  is  released. 

The  first  result  of  this  energy  is  a  stu- 
pendous industry.  The  next  results  of  it  will 
be  in  America,  as  in  Greece  and  Italy,  a  great 
science  and  a  great  art.  Modern  America, 
indeed,  represents  a  new  Eenaissance,  now 
in  progress. 

This  Eenaissance  differs,  however,  from 
those  springtimes  of  thought  which  have 
gone  before  it  in  history,  by  reason  of  its 
democracy.  It  is  marked  by  the  large  pro- 
portion of  the  community  taking  part  in  it, 
and  driving  it  forward.  This  democratic 
characteristic  signifies  that  our  science  will 
be  in  a  special  sense  directed  to  the  task  of 


174  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

revolutionizing  and  perfecting  industry, 
which  is  the  basic  activity  of  society,  and  the 
chief  expression  of  the  life  of  the  masses. 
It  signifies  also  that  our  art  and  culture  will 
be,  in  an  unusual  degree,  permeated  by  a 
sense  of  social  service,  and  will  be  specially 
devoted  to  the  work  of  redeeming  industry 
from  drudgery  and  brutality. 

Persistent  Thinking  as  the  Universal 
Solvent 

The  administrator  who  neglects  to  apply 
the  rules  of  scientific  thinking  to  his  affairs, 
and  who  does  not  exercise  the  highest  reason 
within  his  grasp,  sees  things  flat,  without 
perspective  of  relative  importance,  derives 
few  suggestions,  contradicts  himself  without 
knowing  it,  makes  difficulties  where  there  are 
none,  mistakes  the  point,  misconceives  op- 
ponents, perpetually  arrives  at  knowledge 
too  late,  needlessly  repeats  corrected  faults, 
is  obstinate  when  he  thinks  himself  steadfast, 
inconsistent  when  he  makes  concessions,  and 
most  excites  the  contempt  of  superior  minds 
when  most  confident  of  himself. 

The  administrator  who  conceives  his  prob- 
lems in  an  intellectual  way,  and  uses  obser- 
vation and  thinking  as  his  universal  solvents, 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  175 

establishes  a  knowledge  of  fundamental  prin- 
ciples, approaches  constantly  toward  ac- 
curacy and  comprehensiveness,  and  estab- 
lishes the  habit  of  ascertaining  things  at  first 
hand.  Such  a  man  cultivates  self-command, 
application,  and  respect  for  sincerity.  He 
grows  in  attentiveness  to  allow  no  fallacy 
or  confusion  to  slip  by,  in  tenacity  to  leave 
out  no  logical  step,  and  in  courage  to  ac- 
knowledge difficulties  frankly,  while  yet  be- 
lieving that  a  law  exists. 

If  science  is  the  accumulated  truth  which 
reason  has  discovered,  administration  is  the 
art  of  bringing  action  under  the  control  of 
reason.  It  is  only  through  an  efficient  use 
of  his  mental  resources  that  an  administrator 
can  succeed  in  putting  each  individual  where 
his  highest  qualities  are  used,  in  establish- 
ing logical  relationships,  in  bringing  the  in- 
ferior under  the  helpful  leadership  of  the  su- 
perior, in  providing  immediate,  complete  and 
accurate  records,  in  elucidating  orders,  in 
preceding  action  by  due  deliberation,  in  un- 
locking the  energies  of  men  by  ennobling 
their  conceptions  of  their  tasks,  and  in  estab- 
lishing a  rational  system  of  rewards  and 
punishments.  All  these  administrative  prob- 
lems are  problems  of  thinking.     In  seeking 


176  BUSINESS    ADMINISTRATION 

their  solution,  the  administrator  seeks  sim- 
ply to  penetrate  every  part  of  organized  ac- 
tion with  the  illumination  which  proceeds 
from  the  intellect. 

Intellectual  Courage 

One  must  learn,  must  practice  persistently, 
even  fight  strenuously,  for  the  right  to  bring 
all  his  powers  to  bear  upon  his  life  work,  to 
exercise  all  the  abilities  of  his  mind,  all  his 
sympathies,  his  feelings  and  knowledge,  un- 
abashed by  decorum,  literality,  and  philistin- 
ism.  Thus  forcefully  did  William  James,  in 
one  of  his  essays,  emphasize  the  bravery  re- 
quired for  first-class  thinking.  This  is  a 
statement  of  the  great  truth,  so  often  em- 
phasized by  Fichte,  Varnhagen,  Emerson, 
and  others,  that  the  root  evil  of  life  is  cow- 
ardice, and  the  basic  virtue  bravery ;  bravery 
to  make  all  vital  decisions  in  perfect  honesty 
and  seriousness,  and  to  bring  to  bear  upon 
them  all  the  powers  of  one's  personality. 

Opposition  to  the  evolution  of  scientific  in- 
dustry is  to  be  expected  from  many  sources : 
from  laborers  caught  in  the  fallacy  of  a  uni- 
versal over-production,  who  conceive  that 
there  will  not  be  enough  work  in  the  world 
to  go  around;  from  officials  who  fear  for 


MENTAL  EFFICIENCY  177 

their  positions;  and  from  scientists  who  are 
not  pioneers  npon  the  present  frontiers  of 
science.  When  one  speaks  of  industry  as  a 
possible  fine  art,  he  must  count  upon  the  in- 
ertia of  those  for  whom  culture  means  no 
vision  of  social  good,  growing  into  reality- 
through  sacrifice,  but  signifies  the  mark  of  a 
complacent  Brahmin  caste,  pluming  itself  on 
its  superiority.  The  champions  of  the  vested 
interests  of  the  world  of  culture  tend  to  be 
blind  to  the  beauties  of  the  new  and  more 
democratic  ideals,  which  most  need  cham- 
pions, and  the  appeal  of  which  fills  the  heart 
of  the  reformer. 

The  crucial  difficulty  in  every  advance  in 
the  world  of  action,  as  in  the  world  of 
thought,  is  undoubtedly  to  unlock  the  mind 
of  man  and,  by  dismissing  the  phrase,  "It 
cannot  be  done,"  release  human  energies,  so 
that  a  fair  trial  may  be  made.  It  is  to  this 
point  that  the  plaintive  closing  sentences  of 
Santayana's  "Life  of  Season"  return: 

The  darkest  spots  are  in  man  himself,  in  his  fitful,  irra- 
tional disposition.  Could  a  better  system  prevail  in  our 
lives,  a  better  order  would  establish  itself  in  our  thinking. 
It  has  not  been  for  want  of  keen  senses,  or  personal, 
genius,  or  a  constant  order  in  the  outer  world,  that  man- 
kind have  fallen  back  repeatedly  into  barbarism  and  super- 
stition.    It    has   been   for    want    of   good   character,    good 


178  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

example,  and  good  government.  There  is  a  pathetic  capac- 
ity in  men  to  live  nobly,  if  only  they  would  give  one  another 
the  chance. 

Over  this  difficulty  of  making  trials  on 
faith,  it  is  the  supreme  mission  of  excep- 
tional men  to  help  the  world  of  ordinary 
minds.  An  ideal  is  not  something  to  con- 
template, but  to  attempt.  To  attempt  it  is  to 
gain  a  momentum  toward  it,  which  makes  it 
seem  nearer  and  more  real.  In  the  measure 
that  we  achieve  an  ideal  for  ourselves,  we 
begin  to  think  it  possible  for  others. 


THE    ADMINISTRATOR   AS    A 
DIPLOMAT 

Chapter  X 

THE   HISTORY   OF   THE   GENTLEMAN- 
ADMINISTRATOR 

T  N  the  present  state  of  industry  many  kinds 
of  persons  are  trying  their  hands  at  ad- 
ministrative work.  It  is  the  privilege  of  the 
capitalist  in  a  capitalistic  regime  to  nominate 
himself  to  whatever  positipn  he  chooses.  In 
the  ranks  of  administrators  there  are  to  be 
found  men  who  have  been  drafted  in  be- 
cause they  have  invented  a  new  process  or 
designed  a  package,  or  because  they  under- 
stand machinery,  or  corporation  law,  or  have 
inherited  a  going  business.  When  we  come 
to  know  more  of  the  science  of  administra- 
tion, and  when  public  opinion  shall  demand 
a  more  scientifically  planned  economy,  it  will 
commend  itself  to  reason  as  an  efficient  prac- 
tice to  put  into  administrative  positions  only 
179 


180  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

those  who  understand  the  art  of  handling 
men. 

Administration  and  Human  Nature 

Administration  is  a  form  of  negotiation  or 
diplomacy.  The  stuff  with  which  it  deals  is 
human  nature.  The  executive  is  not  only 
called  upon  to  provide  an  administrative 
framework  of  defined  positions,  and  a  body 
of  rules  governing  operations,  but  to  trans- 
mute his  ideas  into  conviction  in  the  minds 
of  others,  and  to  vitalize  others  by  his  energy 
and  sympathy.  He  must  breathe  the  breath 
of  life  into  his  creation.  To  this  end  he  has 
need  to  be  a  judge  of  men,  gauging  their  abil- 
ities and  acquirements  as  they  are  revealed 
by  language,  intonation,  expression,  features, 
cranium,  build,  posture,  habit,  and  all  the 
works  of  their  hands  and  minds.  He  must 
ascertain  the  prejudices  and  sympathies  of 
his  men,  find  the  grooves  in  which  habit 
makes  their  action  easy,  and  divine  the  inter- 
ests and  ideals  which  can  be  relied  upon  in 
elevating  their  thinking  and  energizing  their 
wills. 

Knowing  human  nature,  the  administrator 
will  understand  why  the  esthetic  and  moral 
impulses  everywhere  interlace  with  economic 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  181 

motives  in  sound  and  permanent  forms  of 
industrial  activity.  He  will  have  the  cour- 
age to  put  into  the  management  of  practical 
affairs  a  new  and  more  refined  calculus  of 
pleasures  and  pains,  because  he  has  the  imag- 
ination to  conceive  what  an  outpouring  of 
repressed  and  chafing  energy  there  will  be 
when  men  are  led  by  executives  who  under- 
stand and  esteem  men.  For  him  an  organi- 
zation will  be,  first  of  all,  a  body  of  human 
beings  sustaining  each  other  with  sympathy 
in  a  process  of  self-expression. 

Sources  of  Knowledge 

Among  the  sources  from  which  the  indus- 
trial executive  can  secure  a  knowledge  of  the 
diplomatic  aspects  of  administration,  in  ad- 
dition to  his  own  intuitive  powers  and  the 
life  histories  of  other  industrial  leaders,  is 
the  experience  which  society  has  accumulated 
in  the  conduct  of  non-economic  forms  of  or- 
ganized effort.  There  are  general  principles 
of  administration  which  underlie  politics,  eco- 
nomics, ecclesiastics,  diplomacy,  military 
strategy,  and  all  other  forms  of  associated 
human  action.  Each  department  of  experi- 
ence can  yield  knowledge  of  profit  to  the 
others,  for  each  can  elucidate  the  working  of 


182  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

certain  forces  which  are  everywhere  present, 
but  are  peculiarly  clear  and  significant  in  it. 

In  military  history,  the  administrator  can 
see  exemplified  the  Spartan  virtues  of  de- 
cision, discipline,  despatch,  concentration, 
and  preliminary  preparation.  From  it  he 
can  learn  the  physics  of  handling  men  in 
masses. 

In  like  manner,  from  the  record  of  diplo- 
macy, and  the  study  of  the  conceptions  which 
society  at  various  times  has  formed  of  the 
ideal  gentleman,  the  administrator  can  learn 
the  function  of  manners,  the  subtle  efficiency 
of  tact,  and  can  observe  the  bearing  of  es- 
thetic and  ethical  forces  upon  economics. 
From  such  sources  he  can  secure  guidance 
in  the  delicate  art  of  handling  men  as  in- 
dividuals. 

It  is  the  recognition  of  these  bonds  of  basic 
law,  stretching  from  one  life  interest  to  an- 
other, and  binding  all  together  in  a  har- 
mony, which  has  enabled  all  great  admin- 
istrators to  understand  each  other  so  well. 
"A  master  likes  a  master/ '  says  Emerson, 
1 i  and  does  not  stipulate  whether  it  be  orator, 
artist,  craftsman,  or  king. ' '  Likewise,  in  the 
"Ballad  of  the  East  and  West,"  Kipling 
sings : 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  183 

— •"  there  is  neither  East   nor  West,  Border,  nor  Breed, 
nor  Birth, 
When  two  strong  men  stand  face  to  face,  tho*  they  come 
from  the  ends  of  the  earth ! ' ' 

History  of  Ideal  Types 

Let  ns  make  a  brief  review  of  what,  in 
various  ages,  it  has  been  thought  a  man 
should  be,  in  the  hope  that  it  will  yield  sug- 
gestions of  use  in  denning  our  ideas  as  to  the 
place  and  function,  the  character  and  ap- 
propriate methods,  of  the  industrial  entre- 
preneur, or  Captain  of  Industry,  who  has  be- 
come so  prominent  since  the  industrial  revo- 
lution. And  this  let  us  do,  not  in  a  spirit  of 
criticism,  but  to  the  end  that  the  business 
executive  may  become  a  better  rounded  and 
more  reliable  instrument  of  progress,  fitting 
harmoniously  into  the  social  order,  so  that 
when  his  account  is  balanced  with  each  of 
the  precious  interests  and  aspiring  tenden- 
cies of  contemporary  life,  he  may  be  found 
to  be  a  profitable  servant  of  society. 

The  Pagan  Hero 

The  ideal  man  of  ancient  times  was  a  leader 
who  wrought  for  the  general  good  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  State.  A  priest- 
king  in  Egypt,  and  an  inspired  prophet  and 


184  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

law-giver  in  Judea,  he  was  frequently  con- 
ceived by  the  Greeks  and  Romans  as  an  ora- 
tor. Doubtless  the  most  dramatic  form  in 
which  the  power  of  the  more  refined  graces 
of  character  can  exhibit  itself  is  the  spell 
which  an  eloquent  speaker  can  exert  over  a 
listening  multitude.  The  States  of  ancient 
times  were  for  considerable  periods  governed 
by  large  primary  assemblies  of  citizens. 
These,  in  an  age  of  imperfectly  formed  laws, 
and  of  well-nigh  constant  warfare,  provided 
an  avenue  to  power  through  the  arts  of  the 
rostrum.  The  principal  ingredient  in  the 
pagan  ideal  was  the  worship  of  patriotism. 
In  Greece,  where  the  State  so  greatly  pre- 
dominated, this  led  men  to  reason  back  from 
the  requirements  of  the  perfect  State  to  the 
essential  characteristics  of  the  perfect  citi- 
zen. The  conception  was  rounded  out  by  ad- 
miration for  the  skilful  use  of  reason,  and 
by  the  breadth  and  sanity  of  judgment  which 
naturally  followed  from  the  Greek  concep- 
tion of  beauty  as  balance,  measure,  or  pro- 
portion. 

In  Rome  the  virtue  of  patriotism  was  of 
a  more  stern  complexion,  as  if  influenced  by 
the  continual  military  conquests.  There  the 
characteristics  especially  admired  were  self- 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  185 

reliance,  fortitude,  serenity  in  trying  vicissi- 
tudes, a  stern  simplicity,  and  ready  self-sacri- 
fice to  avoid  the  humiliation  of  one's  honor. 
The  defects  of  this  virtue  were  blunted  sen- 
sibilities, a  merciless  treatment  of  the  weaker, 
and  narrow  prejudice  against  the  people  of 
other  countries  and  races.  The  gentleman 
of  ancient  times  was  a  servant  of  the  State. 
The  gamut  of  virtue  ran  from  the  refined 
periods  of  a  perfumed  orator  to  the  final  act 
of  a  defeated  general  falling  upon  his  sword 
to  avoid  gracing  an  enemy's  triumph.  But 
in  all  this  range  there  was  no  greatness  ad- 
mired which  was  purely  personal  and  self- 
seeking. 

Pagan  and  Christian 

The  transition  from  pagan  to  mediaeval 
thinking  is  marked  by  the  introduction  of 
Christian  ideals,  and  the  ascendency  of  the 
organized  church.  The  Eoman  citizen,  ani- 
mated by  the  sense  of  human  dignity,  had 
cultivated  a  quick  assertion  of  rights  and  a 
quick  resentment  of  wrongs.  The  Christian 
priest,  humiliated  by  a  sense  of  sin,  now 
sounded  the  depths  of  self-sacrifice  and  bod- 
ily mortification.  The  hordes  of  barbarian 
invaders  who  exterminated  the  martially  in- 


186  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

clined  Eomans,  ignored  the  humble  early 
Christian  bishops,  and  permitted  them  to 
possess  themselves  of  the  administrative  plan 
of  the  fallen  empire,  and  organize  their 
church  upon  it. 

Learning  also  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
church,  so  that  soon  the  story  of  ancient 
virtue  was  read  only  in  monasteries  where, 
viewed  as  a  record  of  pagans,  it  fell  coldly 
upon  minds  filled  with  the  doctrine  of  human 
depravity,  and  cramped  into  a  barren  dia- 
lectic by  the  limits  which  religious  dogma 
imposed. 

So,  therefore,  within  the  precincts  of  the 
church,  in  the  hermit's  retreat,  and  in  pro- 
tected monasteries  and  nunneries,  the  image 
of  the  pagan  hero  faded  into  the  background, 
and  that  of  the  Christian  saint  was  installed 
as  the  personal  ideal. 

The  Teutonic  races,  spurred  forward  by 
migrating  hordes  in  the  rear,  and  thrown 
backward  by  trained  armies  upon  the  Roman 
frontiers,  were  compelled  to  bend  the  full 
force  of  their  tribal  organizations  to  warfare. 
Their  youths  were  trained  to  a  hardy  active 
life.  Their  courage  and  spirit  were  con- 
stantly fed  by  stories  of  exploits  of  the  chase 
and  the  battlefield.    They  were  proud  of  their 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  187 

stature  and  strength,  and  were  full  of  boast- 
ing and  ferocity. 

If  the  barbarian  invaders  in  southern 
Europe  took  over  the  conduct  of  military 
and  political  affairs,  leaving  social  and  re- 
ligious matters  in  the  hands  of  the  church, 
on  the  other  hand,  in  northern  countries,  as 
soon  as  an  orderly  life  was  to  some  degree 
established,  the  pioneer  preachers  of  the 
Christian  faith  appeared  in  every  neighbor- 
hood. Thus  everywhere  were  brought  into 
contact  in  western  Europe  the  gentle  south- 
ern priest  and  the  brave  northern  warrior. 
These  two  types  curbed  each  other  and 
wrought  upon  each  other,  through  many  a 
generation  of  silent  or  outbroken  contest,  un- 
til at  last,  in  the  crusades,  the  church  found 
a  vent  for  barbaric  love  of  war  in  her  ser- 
vice. In  the  crusades  the  union  between  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  forces  of  society  again 
became  perfect.  And  so  we  have  an  era  of 
achievement.  The  physical  manifestation  of 
the  energy  which  this  union  begot  was  the 
conquest  of  the  Holy  Land ;  a  far-distant  and 
hotly  contested  region  was  won  by  an  army 
of  diverse  races  and  poor  discipline,  under 
jealous  leaders,  and  without  the  aid  of  mod- 
ern arms,  commissariat,  or  means  of  trans- 


188  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

port.  The  spiritual  or  intellectual  result  of 
this  union  was  the  splendid  conception  of  the 
chivalrous  knight. 

Elements  of  Chivalry 
Chivalry  preserved  the  active  force  of  the 
northern  chieftains,  but  directed  it  to  un- 
selfish and  lofty  ends.  It  combined  strength 
with  modesty  and  gentleness.  It  retained 
self-confidence,  but  forbade  boasting.  It  cul- 
tivated the  love  of  renown,  but  so  refined  the 
imagination  that  satisfaction  could  be  found 
only  in  splendid  exploits.  It  retained  a  love 
of  conflict,  but  made  mercy  to  the  vanquished 
as  much  a  test  of  character  as  the  victory  it- 
self. It  retained  Teutonic  chastity,  but  glori- 
fied it  into  the  pure  emotion  described  by 
Dante  as  "a  love  which  withdraws  my 
thought  from  all  vile  things.' '  It  retained 
the  Gothic  conception  of  loyalty  and  fra- 
ternity, but  widened  the  group  within  which 
brotherhood  was  recognized  to  include  all 
who  named  the  name  of  Christ.     Symonds 


Chivalry  absorbed  and  organized  not  only  much  of  the 
Christian  but  also  a  large  portion  of  the  old  Teutonic 
spirit.  The  unselfishness,  humility,  forgiveness  of  injuries, 
indifference  to  worldly  wealth,  the  chastity  and  purity  of 
love  which  formed  ingredients  of  the  chivalrous  ideal,  were 
Christian.    The  adoration  of  women,  the  love  of  battles  and 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  189 

the  feats  of  arms  for  their  own  sake,  the  scrupulous  sense 
of  honor,  the  obedience  to  laws,  the  truthfulness  and  loyalty 
to  persons,  the  respect  of  knighthood  as  a  form  of  consecra- 
tion,— all  these  no  less  essential  elements  of  chivalry  were 
Teutonic. 

In  short,  then,  chivalry  married  the  tender 
virtues  of  the  Christian  south  to  the  rugged 
strength  of  the  barbarian  north. 

The  institution  of  chivalry  arose  toward 
the  end  of  the  tenth  century.  It  was  most 
vigorous  during  the  crusades,  most  elaborate 
during  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.  It  was  robbed 
of  much  of  its  beauty  by  the  ungenerous 
passions  evoked  in  the  French  and  English 
civil  wars.  Its  honor  was  weakened  by  the 
sophistications  of  Renaissance  policy.  When, 
at  last,  standing  armies  made  kings  and  com- 
mons powerful,  and  there  was  no  longer  any 
need  of  traveling  champions  of  justice,  armed 
with  spear  and  shield,  knight-errantry  ceased 
to  be.  By  the  sixteenth  century  it  was  but  a 
memory.  The  ringing  horn  on  the  hillside, 
the  clash  of  combat  in  the  road,  and  the  ap- 
plause of  spectators  in  the  tilt-yard,  were 
heard  no  more.  Men  gave  over  romantic 
quests  inspired  by  the  Holy  Grail,  or  a  lady's 
glove,  and  hung  their  glittering  armor  as  an 
ornament  on  castle  walls.  Knighthood  dis- 
appeared into  the  shining  mists  of  story  and 


190  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

song,  leaving  behind,  in  addition  to  its  ideal 
so  wonderfully  compounded  of  strength  and 
beauty,  a  habit  of  respectful  behavior,  a  quick 
answerability  for  personal  wrongs,  a  wealth 
of  armorial  bearings  and  mottoes  and  pre- 
cedents for  heraldry,  and  various  orders  of 
nobility  and  decorations  of  merit.  It  left  also 
a  pathetic  longing  in  the  human  heart  to  see 
such  another  age  of  romance. 

The  chivalrous  knight  swore  allegiance  to 
God,  his  king,  and  his  lady.  He  thus  joined 
Christianity,  loyalty,  and  love — religion,  pa- 
triotism, and  the  arts.  The  vows  of  the 
knight  bound  him  to  renounce  material  gain, 
to  preserve  faith,  to  keep  his  word  sacred, 
actively  to  protect  women  and  all  weak  and 
oppressed  persons,  to  seek  glory  through 
arduous  exploits  and  noble  conflicts,  and  yet 
draw  his  sword  in  no  unjust  quarrel.  These 
vows  gave  consistency  to  an  ideal  of  aristo- 
cratic conduct  appropriate  to  serve  as  a  code 
of  morals  for  a  dominating,  vital  type  of 
leader,  living  in  a  disturbed  and  transitional 
age. 

Eesults  of  Chivalry 

The  enthusiasm  which  the  many-sided  ideal 
of  chivalry  evoked  with  its  galaxy  of  virtues, 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  191 

may  be  seen,  in  literature,  in  the  unfolding 
of  the  themes  of  the  simple  Aryan  folk  tales, 
and  the  prose  romances  of  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  into  the  sensuous  beauty 
of  Provencal  poetry,  and  the  delicacy  and 
pathos  of  Petrarch  and  Dante.  Chivalry  em- 
bellished with  romance  the  lives  of  its  half- 
legendary  founders,  Charlemagne,  Siegfried, 
and  Arthur.  It  supplied  the  conception  of 
virtue  sung  in  Chaucer's  " Pilgrimage,' ■  Mal- 
ory's "Morte  d 'Arthur,"  and  Spenser's 
"Faerie  Queene."  In  the  world  of  action, 
chivalry  animated  the  crusades,  dispensed 
justice  throughout  Europe  for  four  hundred 
years,  purified  court  life,  and  made  much  of 
the  warfare  of  the  middle  ages  peculiarly 
humane  and  noble.  Its  enthusiasm  burned 
into  brilliancy  in  such  characters  as  Kichard 
and  Blondel,  the  Black  Prince  and  his  father, 
Tancred,  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  Gaston  de 
Foix,  Bayard,  and  Warwick,  and  in  a  thou- 
sand forgotten  commanders  of  the  Templars, 
the  Knights  of  St.  John,  and  the  Teutonic 
Knights. 

Chivalry  served  to  draw  out  and  develop 
those  free,  bold  spirits  whose  talents  could 
not  have  been  evoked  by  the  disputations  of 
the  school-men,  nor  the  mortifications  of  the 


192  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

religious  zealots.  It  created  a  romance  of 
action  to  match  the  saint's  moral  paradise, 
and  evoked  poetry  and  the  arts  to  celebrate 
its  charms.  The  love  of  the  beautiful  which 
it  begot  caused  a  hospitable  reception  to  be 
given  in  Europe  to  the  refinements  brought 
from  the  East  by  the  returning  crusaders, 
which  caused  the  first  slight  stirring  of  in- 
ternational trade. 

A  great  advance  in  decency,  courtesy,  and 
personal  loyalty  was  made  in  Europe, 
through  chivalry,  between  the  twelfth  and  the 
sixteenth  centuries.  By  permitting  men  to 
differ  without  brutality,  a  freer  and  more 
flexible  movement  of  thought  was  made  pos- 
sible ;  and  thus  the  temper  of  mind  was  pre- 
pared which  permitted  the  old  order  of  think- 
ing to  break  up,  and  a  new  one  to  form 
which  should  be  comprehensive  enough  to 
include  the  forgotten  treasures  of  classical 
times,  and  the  possibilities  of  the  newly  dis- 
covered west. 

It  created  a  friendliness  and  freemasonry 
among  the  ruling  classes  of  Europe  which 
so  softened  social  and  national  antagonisms 
as  to  permit  a  merciful  spirit  to  express  it- 
self ultimately  in  the  unwritten  laws  of  war, 
and  in  the  practice  of  diplomacy.  The  knight- 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  193 

errant  *s  love  of  dangerous  exploits  trans- 
mitted itself  to  the  "  Shepherds  of  the 
Ocean,"  who  discovered  the  new  world  and 
explored  its  continents.  Through  chivalry 
the  glamour  of  the  crusades  was  transmitted 
to  the  "banner  of  the  cross"  of  the  modern 
missionary  field. 

In  England  and  France,  where  the  knight 
exerted  the  greatest  influence,  there  was  de- 
veloped that  freedom  and  tolerance  which 
the  quick  honor  of  the  code  demanded,  that 
courage  to  attempt  romantic  things  which 
its  quests  developed,  and  that  habit  of  ac- 
tively bringing  one's  ideals  to  bear  upon  the 
real  world  which  its  vow  to  deliver  the  op- 
pressed involved.  So  was  formed  the  basis 
of  the  modern  conception  of  a  gentleman. 
The  consequence  of  the  development  of  these 
virtues  was  that  France  and  England  were 
placed  for  a  long  period  in  control  of  the 
world,  and  in  the  van  of  civilization. 

The  Courtier 

The  formation  of  great  political  States  in 
Europe  at  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
the  establishment  of  the  power  of  the  mon- 
archs  throughout  their  realms,  made  it  un- 
necessary   that    the    knight-errant    should 


194  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

longer  ride  up  and  down  through  the  land 
as  the  champion  of  those  who  were  wronged. 
The  introduction  of  firearms,  and  the  growth 
of  standing  armies,  made  obsolete  the 
mounted  warrior  encased  in  armor,  and 
skilled  in  individual  contests  with  the  lance 
and  sword.  The  administrative  machinery 
of  general  government,  for  each  country,  be- 
came concentrated  at  the  court  of  the  mon- 
arch. The  officers  of  the  realm  organized 
themselves  about  the  person  of  the  sovereign, 
on  the  model  of  a  great  household.  As  the 
page,  squire,  and  knight  of  war-like  chivalry 
disappeared,  the  chief  men  of  the  realm  be- 
came grand  chamberlains,  grand  almoners, 
provosts,  officers  of  the  guard,  equerries,  and 
masters  of  the  bedchamber,  the  wardrobe,  the 
pantry,  and  even  of  the  hounds.  The  world 
of  opportunity  was  not  now  chiefly  the  field 
of  dangerous  exploit,  but  the  anterooms  of 
the  great,  the  royal  hunting  parties,  and  the 
petty  courts  of  the  favorites  of  the  hour.  To- 
ward this  world  of  opportunity,  therefore, 
men  of  talent  turned  their  thoughts.  To  the 
courts  were  drawn  the  leaders  of  the  royal 
armies,  the  prelates  of  the  church*  and  vassal 
nobles  more  easily  controlled  as  ornaments 
of  court  than  as  administrators  on  their  own 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  195 

estates  surrounded  by  their  henchmen.  Court 
circles  were  completed  by  the  various  mem- 
bers of  the  royal  family,  representatives  of 
foreign  monarchs,  and  a  miscellaneous  crowd 
of  soldiers  of  fortune,  scholars,  artists,  and 
agreeable  men  and  women  in  waiting. 

These  persons  were  brought  into  an  inti- 
mate daily  contact  which  gave  unusual  im- 
portance to  tact  and  the  graces  of  personal 
intercourse.  "In  acquiring  talents  adapted 
to  tranquil  times,' '  said  Taine,  "men  lost 
those  suited  to  times  of  agitation.' '  The 
knightly  virtues  were  exchanged  for  the 
courtly  ones.  But  if  there  was  now  less  em- 
phasis upon  physical  stamina  and  the  mili- 
tary virtues  than  in  the  days  of  chivalry, 
there  still  survived  from  that  period  a  high- 
spirited  honor,  a  scrupulous  observance  of 
the  personal  rights  of  others,  and  many 
graceful  formalities  and  traditional  expres- 
sions of  deference. 

Great  power  was  now  concentrated  in  the 
hands  of  a  few  persons,  so  that  even  the 
destinies  of  States  were  decided  by  dynastic 
and  personal  alliances  and  antagonisms.  The 
energies  of  court  circles,  therefore,  found  ex- 
pression in  an  elaborate  subtle  game,  the  ob- 
ject of  which  was  to  win  personal  influence. 


196  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

Every  conversation,  and  even  every  recre- 
ation, might  become  pregnant  with  possibil- 
ity, if  the  great  ones  were  present.  A  look 
or  a  word  might  ruin  a  cause ;  the  friendship 
of  a  relative  or  a  favorite  might  insure  a 
career.  Under  such  conditions,  manners, 
which  should  take  a  position  as  the  minor 
morals  of  life,  were  emphasized  at  the  ex- 
pense of  more  noble  virtues. 

An  entirely  new  element  in  court  life,  not 
present  in  the  age  of  chivalry,  Was  intro- 
duced by  the  revival  of  learning.  The  Eenais- 
sance  was  an  awakening  to  the  joy  of  life, 
and  to  a  new  curiosity  with  reference  to  the 
physical  world.  Brought  about  by  the  revival 
of  classical  learning  and  the  discovery  of  the 
new  world,  its  rise  reinaugurated  scientific 
study,  and  stimulated  literature  and  the  fine 
arts.  The  invention  of  printing,  and  the  in- 
troduction of  paper  helped  to  spread  broad- 
cast in  polite  society  reproductions  of  the 
ancient  classics,  while  the  humanists  pre- 
sented themselves  at  court  as  teachers,  lec- 
turers, poets,  and  arbiters  of  taste  in  speak- 
ing and  writing  and  in  all  matters  involving 
the  arts. 

We  may,  perhaps,  distinguish  three  ele- 
ments which  united  to  form  the  court  ideal 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  197 

of  life  in  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
teenth centuries;  the  virtues  of  the  knight 
sans  peur  et  sans  reproche  inherited  from 
chivalry,  the  accomplishments  of  scholarship 
and  polite  learning  introduced  by  the  hu- 
manists, and  the  sinuous  practices  of  an  ele- 
gant but  unscrupulous  diplomacy,  to  which 
the  conditions  of  court  life  gave  birth.  In  so 
far  as  these  elements  were  capable  of  being 
harmonized,  they  made  up  the  conception  of 
what  the  ideal  courtier  should  be.  In  Ed- 
mund Spenser's  "Faerie  Queene"  we  have 
this  character  presented  as  conceived  at  the 
court  of  Elizabeth,  the  emphasis  being  placed 
upon  manliness.  In  i l  II  Cortegiano ' '  of  Cas- 
tiglione,  the  ideal  of  the  Italian  court  of  the 
Duke  of  Urbino  in  the  early  sixteenth  century 
is  presented,  with  the  emphasis  upon  culture 
and  the  graces.  At  his  best,  as  illustrated, 
let  us  say,  by  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  the  courtier 
was  a  sort  of  knight  with  armor  laid  off, 
bending  himself  to  the  delicate  negotiations 
involved  in  the  new  scheme  of  highly  cen- 
tralized personal  government.  The  courtier 
was  more  gentle  and  more  graceful  than  the 
knight,  and  perhaps  better  balanced  and  more 
restrained.  His  temper  was  more  flexible, 
and  he  was  better  educated.    He  gave  more 


198  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

attention  to  self-control,  repressing  temper, 
melancholy,  and  all  ungracious  actions,  in  an 
effort  to  please ;  and  he  coached  himself  more 
constantly  to  remember  the  likes  and  dislikes 
and  the  interests  of  others. 

But  he  was  in  an  atmosphere  unfavorable 
to  many  of  the  manly  virtues.  The  ideal  of 
the  courtier  suffered  a  rapid  deterioration. 
The  elaboration  of  the  material  side  of  life, 
through  the  attention  paid  by  court  circles 
to  equipages  and  palaces  and  garments  and 
costly  functions,  fired  the  ambition  of  aspir- 
ing men  everywhere  in  Christendom  to  obtain 
wealth.  While  this  undoubtedly  stimulated 
industrial  development,  it  contributed  not  a 
little  to  the  ultimate  decline  of  the  courtier 
into  the  mere  man  of  fashion  and  dandy. 
The  Kenaissance  introduced  many  vices 
which  fastened  themselves  upon  the  idle  priv- 
ileged classes  and,  in  England,  led  to  the  re- 
volt of  Puritanism,  by  which  was  set  up  an 
unfortunate  opposition  between  the  graces 
and  the  virtues.  Italian  intrigue  gave  to 
statecraft  a  sinister  turn.  Irresponsible 
power  produced  an  autocratic  haute  diplo- 
matic which  lingered  in  conflict  with  demo- 
cratic ideals  and  persisted  at  least  until  Met- 
ternich's  time. 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  199 

The  emphasis  placed  on  birth  barred  out 
much  talent.  The  narrowing  of  the  range 
of  interests  made  the  court  circle  incapable 
of  anticipating  the  forthcoming  social  move- 
ments, and  of  adjusting  itself  to  them.  At 
last,  the  demand  of  the  people  for  political 
power  placed  the  whole  group  in  the  light 
of  usurpers,  and  deprived  the  courtier  of  the 
stimulus  of  general  admiration,  and  of  the 
force  of  his  own  good  conscience.  And  thus 
the  heart  was  taken  out  of  the  court  concep- 
tion of  what  a  man  should  be.  There  was 
soon  left  only  a  shell  of  genealogies,  formali- 
ties, and  clothes.  A  great  decline  in  nobility 
of  character  is  visible  between  the  court  of 
Elizabeth  and  that  of  George  II. 

" Aristocracies,' '  says  Matthew  Arnold, 
"  those  children  of  established  fact,  are  for 
epochs  of  concentration.  In  epochs  of  ex- 
pansion, aristocracies  with  their  natural 
clinging  to  the  established  fact,  their  want  of 
sense  for  the  inevitable  transitoriness  of  all 
human  institutions,  are  bewildered  and  help- 
less.' ' 

i  The  Gentleman 

The  next  movement  therefore  is  a  demo- 
cratic one.    After  the  era  of  revolutions  had 


200  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

established  popular  governments,  the  re- 
sponsibility of  leadership,  which  once  rested 
with  the  few,  devolved  upon  public  opinion. 
A  new  range  of  rights  and  duties  was  opened 
to  the  citizen.  It  will  be  observed  that  the 
conceptions  of  past  ages  were  ideals  of 
leadership.  The  orator-patriot  was  a  leader ; 
so  also  were  the  knight  and  the  courtier. 
Now  that  we  have  reached  the  age  of  de- 
mocracy can  there  any  longer  be  an  ideal  of 
leadership?  It  has  been  said  that  many  steps 
in  progress  have  had  a  leveling  effect.  Gun- 
powder abolished  certain  inequalities  between 
fighting  men,  printing  leveled  learning  in  cer- 
tain ways,  transportation  brought  travel- 
ing men  nearer  to  equality,  and  the  tele- 
graph made  communicating  men  stand  more 
nearly  upon  a  plane.  But  leadership  has  not 
thereby  been  destroyed.  On  the  contrary, 
these  inventions  have  increased  the  number 
of  departments  of  human  effort  which  offer 
scope  for  the  exercise  of  great  powers  of 
leadership.  The  duty  of  leadership  has  been 
laid  upon  a  vastly  greater  number  of  per- 
sons than  ever  before.  The  inventions  above 
referred  to  have  made  scope  for  scholars  in 
the  control  of  the  fecund  press,  for  states- 
men to  fix  the  transportation  rates  which 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  201 

shall  determine  the  circulatory  system  of  the 
nation's  industry,  and  for  men  of  culture  to 
say  what  is  worth  while  as  telegraphic  news. 
Machine  processes  of  industry  have  brought 
into  existence  vast  industrial  interests  which 
call  loudly  for  men  of  the  highest  character. 
"What  becomes  of  the  gentleman  in  an  age 
of  democratic  equality  V  asks  Crothers. 
"Just  what  becomes  of  every  ideal  when  the 
time  of  its  fulfillment  has  come.  It  is  freed 
from  its  limitations  and  enters  into  a  larger 
life.,, 

Curiously  enough,  the  democratic  ideal  is 
the  most  complex.  Each  ideal  in  the  sequence 
of  history  has  naturally  enough  been  more 
complex  than  its  predecessor,  for  it  has 
added,  to  the  elements  carried  over  from  the 
old,  the  new  qualities  evoked  by  the  need  of 
the  times.  The  conception  of  the  gentleman 
contains  elements  derived  from  all  the  cul- 
tural enthusiasms  which  have  preceded  it. 
This  complexity  emphasizes  the  sovereign 
importance  of  balance  and  due  proportion. 
A  gentleman  is  one  who  gives  to  each  worthy 
aim  of  life  its  rightful  consideration.  He 
pushes  those  things  into  the  background 
which  belong  in  the  background.  He  is  one 
who  will  not  permit ' '  raw  haste,  half-sister  to 


202  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

delay,' '  nor  disfiguring  intensity  in  the  pur- 
suit of  a  few  ends,  to  leave  him  a  spiritual 
pauper  in  other  departments  of  his  nature. 
With  nothing  in  excess,  and  nothing  forgot- 
ten, he  sees  life  as  a  whole  and  plans  to  make 
a  harmony  of  it.  The  relation  of  balance  of 
character  to  administration  is  clear.  The 
man  who  cannot  administer  his  own  talents, 
and  establish  harmony  in  his  individual  char- 
acter, gives  poor  promise  of  introducing  due 
proportion  and  smooth  co-operation  into  the 
labors  of  others  placed  under  his  control. 

The  question  has  often  been  asked:  "What 
is  it  to  be  a  gentleman? "  Thackeray,  who 
asks  it  in  "The  Four  Georges,' '  answers,  "It 
is  to  have  lofty  aims,  to  lead  a  pure  life,  to 
keep  your  honor  virgin,  to  have  the  esteem 
of  your  fellow  citizens,  and  the  love  of  your 
fireside;  to  bear  good  fortune  meekly;  to 
surfer  evil  with  constancy;  and  through  evil 
or  good  to  maintain  truth  always  I"  Hux- 
ley chooses  as  the  essential  qualities,  thought- 
fulness  for  others,  generosity,  modesty,  and 
self-respect.  Newman,  in  his  ' '  Idea  of  a  Uni- 
versity,' '  gives  a  wonderful  catalog  of  the 
virtues  of  the  gentleman,  in  which  the  func- 
tions of  kindliness,  modesty,  fairness,  and 
tolerance  are  trenchantly  set  forth. 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  203 

In  personal  intercourse  the  gentleman 
"  sedulously  attends,  pointedly  asks,  calmly 
speaks,  coolly  answers,  and  ceases  when  he 
has  no  more  to  say."  He  makes  few  apolo- 
gies, knowing  that  many  are  futile.  He  is 
sparing  in  the  use  of  criticism,  satire,  and 
ridicule ;  but  on  occasion  employs  them  with 
a  convincing  candor.  He  is  tolerant  of  abuse, 
as  one  who  knows  the  force  of  the  passion 
which  it  expresses;  but  in  his  own  speaking 
aims  not  to  make  truth  offensive  by  excess  of 
force.  In  argument  he  strives  not  more  to 
convince  the  intellect  than  to  win  the  heart, 
knowing  too  well  the  value  of  a  friend  to  sac- 
rifice one  for  a  triumph  in  debate.  He  is 
hampered  by  few  aversions,  by  rare  resent- 
ments, and  by  no  jealousies. 

The  heart  of  a  gentleman  is  hospitable  to 
new  friends.  He  makes  acquaintances  with- 
out precipitant  confidences;  and  his  friend- 
ships are  not  cut  to  the  pattern  of  his  inter- 
ests. He  possesses  the  sympathy  born  of 
much  experience;  and  from  kindliness  of 
heart,  as  well  as  acute  perception,  attains  the 
virtue  which  is  the  twin- sister  of  excellence, 
namely,  the  appreciation  of  excellence  in 
others.  He  avoids  dissimulation  as  the  weak 
policy  of  those  who  are  overmatched  by  cir- 


204  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

cumstances.  He  does  not  need  to  boast,  for 
he  has  curbed  his  appetite  for  praise  until  he 
is  content  with  that  recognition  which  flows 
naturally  from  his  achievements.  He  under- 
stands the  endurance  of  cheerfulness;  and 
prizes  the  beauty  of  unpublished  charity. 

A  gentleman  possesses  the  harmony  of  na- 
ture which,  "suiting  the  action  to  the  word, 
the  word  to  the  action/ '  is  able  to  attain  ad- 
dress without  loss  of  more  sterling  qualities. 
He  judges  himself  too  justly  for  presumption, 
and  others  too  accurately  for  diffidence.  By 
avoiding  the  impetuosity  of  youth,  and  the 
avarice  of  decrepitude,  he  prolongs  the 
golden  age  of  life.  Through  his  restraint 
there  is  expressed  a  reserve  strength  which 
sustains  admiration  as  by  a  perpetual  prom- 
ise of  new  revelations  of  moral  beauty. 

A  gentleman  is  one  who  is  endowed  with 
generous  impulses,  a  sound  understanding, 
and  a  firm  will;  he  has  taught  himself  the 
nature  of  the  human  heart;  he  is  moving 
through  the  world  in  the  company  of  splen- 
did ideals,  for  whose  realization  he  ever  hope- 
fully and  joyously  strives. 

Present  Need  of  Leadership 

There  is  a  degree  of  similarity  between 
the  juncture  now  prevailing  with  reference 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  205 

to  ideals  of  conduct,  and  certain  transitional 
periods  of  the  past  when  old  models  were 
disintegrating  and  new  ones  forming.  In  the 
early  middle  ages  the  delicate  ideals  of  Chris- 
tianity were  brought  into  contact  with  the 
ferocity  of  the  barbarian  peoples.  At  first 
the  refined  spirits  of  the  Church  shrank  into 
seclusion,  cultivating  self-perfection  while 
they  awaited  the  end  of  the  world.  But  when 
finally  a  zeal  was  awakened  within  them  to 
carry  their  gospel  to  the  northern  peoples, 
and  to  this  zeal  was  added  system  and  di- 
plomacy, their  efforts  were  crowned  with  suc- 
cess. Not  that  they  made  many  hermits  and 
recluses;  they  did  not,  human  nature  be 
thanked.  But,  by  coming  into  a  vigorous  and 
intimate  relation  to  life,  they  caused  the 
Christian  virtues  to  unite  with  the  prevailing 
secular  ideals  of  the  northern  races,  and 
formed  that  beautiful  composite  of  charac- 
teristics which  graced  the  chivalrous  knight. 
An  analogous  process  of  integrating  di- 
verse social  interests  is  now  under  way.  The 
Puritan  movement,  which  for  a  long  period 
parted  religion  and  culture  as  co-operating 
social  forces  in  English-speaking  countries, 
was  followed  by  the  Industrial  Revolution 
which  served  to  carry  ethical  and  economic 


206  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

thought  apart.  The  Eeformation  withdrew 
the  emphasis  from  the  social  law  and  placed 
it  upon  the  individual  conscience,  but  the  In- 
dustrial Eevolution  made  the  individual  ap- 
pear as  an  insignificant  atom  in  great  na- 
tional and  international  adjustments  of  sup- 
ply and  demand.  It  applied  to  him  the 
scourge  of  a  new  competition,  offered  him  the 
secrecy  of  producing  for  a  distant  market 
under  cover  of  the  corporation  and,  through 
the  philosophy  of  natural  liberty,  bade  him 
follow  his  self-interest. 

Likewise,  culture  and  industry  for  a  time 
drew  apart,  the  one  looking  ever  backwards 
and  over-valuing  literature,  the  other  look- 
ing ever  forward  and  over-valuing  action. 
The  new  system  of  manufacturing  and  com- 
merce served  to  rearrange  communities  geo- 
graphically on  the  basis  of  their  interests. 
The  trades  were  carried  out  of  the  house- 
holds and  villages,  where  the  general  intelli- 
gence of  the  community  had  kept  vigilant 
eye  upon  their  practices,  and  were  concen- 
trated in  regions  of  coal  and  iron,  and  in  the 
industrial  quarters  of  cities,  temporarily  out 
of  the  vision  and  thought  of  the  liberal  pro- 
fessions and  the  landed  families  and  the  uni- 
versities. 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  207 

But  now  the  interests  of  society  are  again 
beginning  to  react  energetically  upon  each 
other.  If  a  new  synthesis  can  be  made  which 
will  bring  the  various  forces  of  the  com- 
munity into  harmonious  co-operation,  as  in 
the  age  of  the  crusades  and  the  cathedrals, 
another  period  of  great  achievements  may 
be  ushered  in.  Eeligion,  now  no  longer  so 
certain  of  the  accuracy  of  its  knowledge  of  a 
future  world,  is  concerning  itself  more  with 
present  social  problems;  while  industry  has 
had  long  enough  experience  with  the  new 
order  to  perceive  the  reality  of  the  results 
of  the  long-run,  and  to  turn  to  the  causes  of 
individual  efficiency.  Likewise,  culture,  bet- 
ter informed  of  the  world's  present  life- 
process  by  modern  agencies  of  news  gather- 
ing, is  ashamed  of  literary  dilettantism; 
while  the  Captains  of  Industry,  having  shown 
secret  aspirations  by  post-mortem  endow- 
ments of  socializing  institutions,  are  giving 
way  to  a  generation  of  college  men  in  busi- 
ness who  reach  forward  more  boldly  to  a 
new  chivalry  of  generous  living  leadership. 

The  age  is  full  of  opportunities.  Industry 
awaits  the  administrator  who  shall  be  all  that 
a  gentleman  should  be ;  efficient  but  humane, 
adroit  but  honorable,  a  lover  of  his  fellow- 


208  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

men  as  well  as  a  leader  of  them;  and  who 
shall  use  his  power  with  gentleness,  and  his 
wealth  with  imagination,  and  shall  illuminate 
the  world  of  private  property  with  light  from 
far-away  interests  of  the  heart. 

Such  an  administrator  will,  indeed,  assert 
his  driving  power  and  mastership,  and  will 
take  care  to  insure  discipline  or  the  spirit  of 
sacrifice,  which  is  essential  to  all  successful 
organized  action.  But  he  will  not  rest  con- 
tent with  that  blind,  mechanical,  and  sullen 
discipline  gained  by  coercion.  He  will  move 
upon  a  higher  plane  of  efficiency  to  evoke 
true  loyalty,  that  infectious  nobility  which 
spreads  in  the  ranks  in  response  to  nobility 
in  the  leader. 

Nor  will  such  management  now  be  unprofit- 
able. One  of  the  characteristic  movements  of 
progress  is  the  spread  to  wider  and  wider 
circles  of  society  of  that  delicacy  of  intuition, 
and  that  sensitive  self-respect,  which  for- 
merly prevailed  only  within  the  most  favored 
circles.  More  and  more,  men  and  women  in 
the  ordinary  walks  of  life  are  being  leavened 
with  culture,  and  are  becoming  sensitive  to 
discourteous  treatment,  observant  of  the 
causes  of  human  suffering,  appreciative  of 
beauty  of  environment,  and  responsive  to  the 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  209 

appeal  of  high  ideals.  This  advance  compels 
the  administrator  to  exercise  a  progressively 
strict  restraint  in  the  choice  of  means,  and  to 
calculate  ever  more  seriously  the  justice  and 
spiritual  value  of  his  final  aims.  There  exists 
much  inefficient  management  which  is  so  be- 
cause it  has  not  observed  how  refined  the  pub- 
lic schools  have  made  the  young  men  and 
women  now  entering  stores  and  offices,  how 
responsible  the  colleges  have  made  those 
graduates  who  are  working  toward  mana- 
gerial positions,  how  scientific  the  engineers 
have  made  the  technical  staffs,  how  proud 
and  independent  the  economic  agitations  of 
recent  years  have  made  workmen,  and  how 
discriminating  modern  periodical  literature 
has  made  the  consuming  public. 

The  common  thought  will  endorse  bringing 
the  various  interests  of  society  more  inti- 
mately together  in  a  union  which  may  be  still 
called  by  the  old  name,  "carrying  on  a  busi- 
ness. ' '  It  will  endorse  leadership  which  rec- 
ognizes, as  a  part  of  sound  practical  busi- 
ness policy,  efforts  to  improve  the  relation  of 
the  school  system  to  industry,  to  adjust  in- 
dustrial effort  to  a  proper  recreative  pro- 
gram, to  give  esthetic  considerations  weight 
in  planning  industrial  equipment,  or  to  make 


210  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

revisions  in  our  obsolete  code  of  industrial 
ethics.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  gentleman 
that  he  firmly  interlaces  the  interests  of  life. 
He  works  through  larger  correlations  than 
the  ordinary  man,  for  his  comprehensive  and 
well-balanced  knowledge  gives  him  a  greater 
faith.  The  gentleman-administrator  will  aim, 
therefore,  to  bring  the  loose  ends  of  society 's 
labors  together,  and  perfect  a  working  har- 
mony between  the  creative  forces  of  his  age. 

The  Captain  of  Industry 

The  captain  of  industry  is  the  logical  suc- 
cessor to  the  knight  and  the  courtier.  "The 
leaders  of  industry,  if  industry  is  ever  to  be 
led,"  says  Carlyle,  "are  virtually  the  cap- 
tains of  the  world;  if  there  be  no  nobleness 
in  them,  there  will  never  be  an  aristocracy 
more."  Homer  called  Agamemnon  the 
' 'Shepherd  of  the  People,"  because  he  or- 
ganized them  so  that  they  wrought  great 
things.  The  modern  executive  whose  func- 
tion it  is  to  move  men's  minds  in  economic 
affairs  may,  if  he  will,  be  a  shepherd  of  his 
flock  in  many  pastures  other  than  those  in 
which  the  daily  bread  is  gained.  There  may 
be  some  excuse  if  others  build  up  little  pri- 
vate paradises,  and  cherish  in  a  timid  secret 


THE  GENTLEMAN-ADMINISTRATOR  211 

way  some  aspiration  toward  the  beautiful 
which  is  too  weak  to  reach  further  than  a 
collecting  mania  or  to  touch  more  lives  than 
those  of  wife  and  children;  but  the  adminis- 
trator is  by  instinct  a  leader,  by  right  of 
ability  a  law-giver,  and  by  virtue  of  position 
a  general  model  of  conduct.  How  shall  the 
administrator,  who  has  no  great  unselfish 
aims,  be  excused,  whose  function  it  is  to 
guide  the  daily  thinking  of  others,  and  whose 
talent  fits  him  to  organize  the  efforts  of  oth- 
ers, and  give  to  them  balance  and  proportion 
as  parts  of  a  general  plan?  How  shall  his 
name  get  into  the  roll  of  great  leaders,  if  he 
administers  only  for  himself,  and  lets  the 
world  go  on  its  way  unrefreshed  and  unen- 
nobled  through  his  talent? 


Chapter  XI 

THE  METHODS  OF  THE  GENTLEMAN- 
ADMINISTRATOR 

A  POINT  of  view  for  judging  the  methods 
■*  *■  appropriate  to  the  gentleman-adminis- 
trator may  be  gotten  by  starting  with  the  fact 
that  the  conduct  of  affairs  is  chiefly  a  matter 
of  managing  human  nature.  The  principles 
of  administration  are  in  large  measure  sim- 
ply approved  ways  of  convincing  the  human 
reason,  of  arousing  the  human  will,  and  of 
protecting  human  nature  against  its  own 
weaknesses.  To  obey  the  laws  of  human 
nature  means,  negatively,  to  limit  one 's  aims, 
as  Caesar  did,  to  what  is  practicable.  Posi- 
tively, it  is  to  steer  such  a  course  toward  a 
chosen  aim  as  will  arouse  the  greatest  pre- 
ponderance of  favorable  forces. 

The  nature  of  the  "calculus  of  diplomacy' ' 
may  be  illustrated  by  an  observation  of 
Machiavelli  that  "It  is  a  mark  of  great  pru- 
dence in  a  man  to  abstain  from  threats  or 
any  contemptuous  expressions,  for  neither 
of  these  weaken  the  enemy,  but  the  one  pro- 
tects him  by  making  him  more  cautious,  and 
the  other  strengthens  him  by  exciting  his 
hatred,  and  a  desire  to  revenge  himself." 
213 


214  business  administration 

The  Study  of  Human  Nature 
The  beginning  of  diplomacy  in  administra- 
tion is,  therefore,  to  become  a  student  of 
men. 

Most  of  us  form  our  general  opinions  of 
persons  with  too  great  haste  and,  having 
formed  them,  we  modify  them  with  too  great 
reluctance.  The  diplomatic  person  is  one 
who  has  the  instinct  for  the  observation  of 
points  of  character,  and  who  persists  longer 
than  others  in  such  observation.  He  excels 
in  watchfulness  to  correct  his  impressions, 
so  that  his  policies  may  be  modified  con- 
stantly by  easy  transitions,  rather  than  occa- 
sionally by  harsh  reversals.  He  observes 
those  matters  which  illustrate  the  force  of 
habit,  or  the  flexibility  of  a  well-trained  will ; 
and  probes  out  the  few  central  notions  which, 
in  most  men,  govern  conduct.  In  a  company 
of  persons,  he  observes  the  signs  by  which 
natural  leaders  betray  themselves,  and  by 
which  others  admit  their  leadership.  To  him 
there  are  two  languages;  one  of  words  de- 
noting concepts,  the  other  of  signs  revealing 
character.  To  the  testimony  of  social  inter- 
course he  adds  that  of  deeds,  studying  their 
times  and  sequences,  their  force  and  continu- 
ity,   their    precision    and    appropriateness. 


METHODS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  215 

Into  comparison  with  character  he  brings 
reputation,  judging  both  by  practical  ideals. 

Elements  of  Efficiency 

Diplomacy  is  good  economy  because  it 
seizes  opportunity.  It  is  wary  enough  to 
forego  many  advantages,  but  too  experienced 
to  wait  for  all  circumstances  to  become  favor- 
able. The  study  of  human  nature  prepares 
the  administrator  not  only  to  utilize  oppor- 
tunities, but  to  see  them  afar  off,  and  time 
their  arrival.  Opportunity  is  an  excep- 
tional degree  of  harmony  between  talent, 
project,  and  circumstance.  More  precisely 
stated,  it  is  an  advantage  more  valuable  than 
the  present  worth  of  the  chance  of  any  fu- 
ture superior  advantage  which  competes  for 
the  attention  of  the  same  talents.  The  diplo- 
mat keenly  realizes  that  the  utilized  oppor- 
tunities of  a  life  tend  to  arrange  themselves 
in  series,  both  ascending  in  value  and  in- 
creasing in  frequency.  He,  therefore,  flex- 
ibly lends  himself  to  small  matters  which 
those  persons  ignore  who  have  forgotten  the 
fable  of  the  camel's  nose. 

A  second  secret  of  the  efficiency  of  diplo- 
macy lies  in  its  following  the  line  of  least 
resistance.    There  is  a  kind  of  indirect  ap- 


216  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

proach  in  dealing  with  the  forces  governing 
thinking  and  feeling,  which  is  analogous  to 
the  round-about  productive  process  of  capi- 
talistic industry.  Such  a  course  may  be  illus- 
trated by  the  policies  of  Lord  Kitchener  in 
Egypt.  Finding  that  the  male  population  of 
certain  districts  was  giving  trouble  to  the 
local  police  by  its  lawlessness,  he  arranged 
that  the  hated  draft  for  the  army  should  fall 
most  heavily  upon  these  districts,  so  that  the 
State  might  utilize  this  valor  and  energy. 
The  effect  was  a  prompt  competition  between 
districts  to  see  which  could  be  most  orderly. 
To  the  request  of  the  Egyptian  government 
to  be  allowed  to  send  troops  to  the  aid  of 
Turkey  he  replied  favorably,  but  made  it 
plain  that  since  Egypt  could  not  be  left  ex- 
posed, an  equal  body  of  English  troops  would 
be  brought  in,  at  the  expense  of  the  Egyptian 
government.     No  troops  were  sent  out. 

The  diplomat  aims  rather  to  mould  men  in 
the  origins  of  their  convictions  than  to  sub- 
due them  in  the  full  course  of  their  actions. 
He  draws  others  toward  his  conclusion  step 
by  step,  through  a  series  of  easy  transitions. 
He  does  not  press  his  point,  and  he  never 
commits  the  folly  of  celebrating  a  triumph 
which  intensifies  to  another  the  personal  ele- 


METHODS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  217 

ment  in  defeat.  He  economizes  severely  in 
the  number  of  independent  decisions  he  re- 
quires from  others,  working  through  natural 
leaders,  taking  advantage  of  habit,  and  pre- 
senting new  matters  as  corollaries  of  old. 
Diplomatic  management  aims  to  set  up  such 
an  economy  of  effort  among  psychic  forces 
as  engineering  does  among  physical  forces. 
Like  engineering,  it  uses  one  force  to  correct 
or  neutralize  another,  producing  such  an 
equilibrium  of  divergent  tendencies  that,  in 
directing  affairs,  the  influence  of  the  admin- 
istrator suffices  everywhere  to  make  a  pre- 
ponderance. 

Another  secret  of  diplomacy  is  that 
it  makes  a  perfected  work  of  whatever  it 
undertakes.  There  is  in  industry  much  bad 
management  which  patiently  enough  bears 
the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day,  performing 
the  monotonous  or  arduous  duties  which  con- 
stitute the  bulk  of  so  many  matters,  but  which 
always  stops  a  little  short  of  roundly-finished 
and  satisfying  work,  firmly  fitted  into  its 
place,  understood,  and  heartily  accepted. 
The  administrator  who  provides  equipment, 
organization,  and  technical  skill  and  then, 
from  lack  of  the  personal  graces,  alienates 
others  and  misrepresents  himself,  is  similar 


218  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

to  the  farmer  who  performs  all  the  field  labor 
necessary  to  produce  crops,  but  who,  for  lack 
of  a  little  cleanliness  and  taste  in  the  final 
grading  and  packing,  receives  but  half  the 
price. 

The  undiplomatic  man  makes  a  long  jour- 
ney and  offends  his  host  on  the  steps; 
trains  an  apprentice  and  loses  him  at  the 
beginning  of  productive  years  by  a  sharp 
word;  builds  a  structure  and  leaves  it  hide- 
ous for  lack  of  an  extra  foot  on  the  cornice ; 
brings  a  group  of  negotiations  to  a  final  con- 
ference and  sticks  at  a  minor  point.  Such  a 
man  prepares  for  a  position  and  expects 
those  with  appointing  power  to  know  his 
fitness  by  divination;  he  labors  earnestly  to 
prepare  a  plan  but  presents  it  stiffly  with  a 
"take  it  or  leave  it"  air.  Diplomacy  has  a 
passion  to  complete  its  task  as  a  work  of 
art,  and  it  takes  the  necessary  infinite  pains 
up  to  the  very  end.  It  realizes  that  all  affairs 
begin  and  end  as  psychic  states; — end  as  a 
state  of  satisfaction  in  some  person  or  group 
of  persons.  It  does  not  neglect,  therefore, 
to  humanly  interpret  its  results  to  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  men,  and  to  win  for  them  at- 
tention and  friendly  consideration  as  fore- 
runners to  acceptance. 


! 


methods  of  the  administrator         219 

Due  Form 

It  is  a  necessary  part  of  the  economy  of 
any  art  or  craft  to  preserve  the  devices,  pol- 
icies, principles,  and  even  the  points  of  view 
and  ideals,  which  experience  has  established, 
in  order  that  talent  may  not  unduly  waste 
itself  in  reproducing  what  has  already  been 
created  out  of  the  void,  by  past  generations 
of  masters.  In  the  fine  art  of  conduct,  due 
form  is  the  established  technique  which,  un- 
der ordinary  conditions,  is  not  to  be  changed, 
except  by  those  who  first  prove  their  talent 
by  its  mastery.  The  conservatism  of  society 
is  a  sound  instinct  to  protect  the  costly  gains 
of  civilization  against  the  rude  hands  of 
plausible  leaders  or  fanatical  minorities.  It 
is  a  kind  of  temporary  veto  which  appeals 
all  matters  to  time  and  the  majority. 

There  is  always  in  the  world  a  class  of 
impatient  persons  who  possess  the  energy  to 
accomplish  results  with  crude  and  self-taught 
methods.  But  if  these  persons  were  allowed 
to  break  down  the  traditions  of  the  arts  or 
crafts  in  which  they  work,  society  in  the  end 
would  suffer  more  than  it  would  gain,  by 
reason  of  the  loss  in  efficiency  of  the  great 
majority  who  can  only  make  their  contribu- 
tions by  following  the  best  methods.    There 


220  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

are,  of  course,  exceptional  cases  when  an  in- 
dividual contribution  is  so  great  that  the  con- 
fusion and  bad  precedent  which  the  manner 
of  it  introduces  into  the  world  of  methods 
must  be  overlooked.  But  when  the  mature 
consideration  of  the  best  minds  does  not  ap- 
prove an  exception,  the  observance  of  due 
form  means  usually  to  bow  to  the  wisdom  of 
not  rendering  an  immediate,  local,  and  tangi- 
ble service  at  the  expense  of  a  greater  subse- 
quent, though  possibly  imperceptible,  injury. 

Furthermore,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  highest  talent  follows  good  method  by 
instinct.  " Every  great  man,"  said  Bulwer, 
"  exhibits  the  talent  of  organization  or  con- 
struction, whether  it  be  in  a  poem,  a  philo- 
sophical system,  a  policy,  or  a  strategy. — 
And  without  method  there  is  no  organization 
nor  construction. ' '  More  pertinently  and 
compactly  Goethe  says,  "Genius  is  that 
power  of  man  which,  by  deeds  and  actions, 
gives  laws  and  rules.' ' 

One  of  the  uses  of  proper  form  results 
from  its  availability  as  a  tangible  sign  in 
classifying  men  and  their  undertakings.  As 
a  symbol  of  talent,  or  a  password,  or  badge 
of  class,  it  is  useful  when  the  circumstances 
will  not  permit  the  essence  of  the  talent  to 


METHODS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  221 

be  more  definitely  proved  by  performance. 
" Ceremony,' '  said  Steele,  "is  the  invention 
of  wise  men  to  keep  fools  at  a  distance.' ' 

This  use  is  the  recognition  of  the  conveni- 
ence, not  to  say  necessity,  of  bringing  exter- 
nal symbols  into  harmony  with  essential  real- 
ities. A  stock  illustration  of  the  idea  is  the 
case  of  an  officer  who  must  in  his  person  rep- 
resent the  dignity  of  an  organization,  or  a 
profession,  or  a  country.  Cromwell  per- 
mitted the  formalities  of  State  to  proceed 
undisturbed,  even  though  they  involved  him 
to  his  discomfort.  George  IV  offended  many, 
even  in  the  act  of  making  friendly  advances. 
Lord  Dudley,  commenting  on  him,  said, 
"Drinking  toasts,  shaking  people  by  the 
hand,  and  calling  them  Jack  and  Tom,  get 
more  applause  at  the  moment,  but  fail  en- 
tirely in  the  long  run. ' '  It  has  been  said  that 
"an  ambassador  is  a  spectacle."  In  this 
sense,  a  king  is  an  ambassador  of  the  state 
to  his  own  people.  Every  man  should  con- 
sider his  manners  as  the  ambassadors  of  his 
talents. 

A  similar  function  of  form  is  to  bring  inci- 
dentals into  harmony  with  that  which  is  prin- 
cipal. No  man  who  becomes  a  model  in  one 
line  of  action  can  prevent  being  taken  as  a 


222  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

model  in  many  other  lines.  So  strong  is  the 
tendency  to  consider  every  leader  as  superior 
in  all  departments  of  life,  and  so  as  a  uni- 
versal pattern,  that  whoever  steps  out  in 
advance  of  the  crowd,  and  makes  himself  an 
example  in  any  given  thing,  cannot  avoid  the 
responsibility  of  regulating  his  entire  life 
with  a  new  scrupulousness,  not  only  to  avoid 
doing  his  followers  and  admirers  and  imita- 
tors an  injury  through  his  incidental  leader- 
ship, but  to  prevent  the  rebound  of  that  in- 
jury upon  himself  from  working  a  destruc- 
tion of  his  usefulness  in  the  true  field  of  his 
leadership.  Form  is,  therefore,  on  its  high- 
est plane  a  kind  of  conscience  or  circumspec- 
tion in  the  great,  to  avoid  harming  others  by 
the  force  of  example. 

If  form  is  capable  of  becoming  a  safeguard 
against  the  erratic  use  of  the  power  of  the 
great,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  it  will  owe 
its  rise  and  binding  force  not  only  to  the  will 
of  the  governor,  but  of  the  governed  as  well. 
Every  executive  finds  his  power  censored  and 
bounded  by  this  unwritten  law  of  form  or 
custom  or  propriety.  Springing  from  the 
minds  of  the  governed,  it  invests  him,  with- 
out his  volition,  as  a  yielding,  deferential  and 
somewhat    indefinite    but,    nevertheless,    a 


METHODS  OP  THE   ADMINISTRATOR  223 

finally  serious  and  determined  cloud  of  limi- 
tations. We  have  already  quoted  Steele's 
pungent  phrase,  "Ceremony  is  the  invention 
of  wise  men  to  keep  fools  at  a  distance.' ' 
We  may  now  reverse  this  and  say,  ceremony 
is  the  invention  of  wise  subjects  to  keep  their 
governors  from  foolish  actions. 

Courtesy 

In   answering   the   question,   who   is    the 
happy  warrior,  Wordsworth  says : 

'Tis  he 
Whose  powers  shed  around  him  in  the  common  strife 
Of  mild  concerns  of  ordinary  life 
A  constant  influence,  a  peculiar  grace. 

"The  virtue  of  any  action,"  says  Seneca, 
"lies  in  the  intent,  the  profit  in  the  judicious 
application  of  means,  but  the  beauty  and  or- 
nament lie  in  the  manner  of  it. ' '  Courtesy  or 
tact  or  gentleness  has  been  defined  as  gener- 
osity in  little  things.  Not  only  is  it  "benevo- 
lence in  trifles, "as  Chatham  said, but  it  is  also 
such  a  benevolence  in  the  great  things,  which 
may  bring  glory,  that  attention  can  be  spared 
from  them  for  the  simple  elements  of  daily 
life.  It  has  been  slighted  as  petty  because  it 
deals  with  trifles,  but  its  special  function  is 
to  rob  what  it  touches  of  pettiness,  by  deal- 


224  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

ing  with  it  in  a  noble  spirit.  It  is,  indeed, 
most  beautiful  as  a  virtue  of  strong  natures, 
for  in  them  it  is  free  from  the  suspicion  of 
interest.  Whatever  courtesy  may  lack,  in 
the  significance  of  the  individual  acts,  is  com- 
pensated for  by  the  constancy  of  its  opera- 
tion for,  as  Burke  said,  "The  law  can  touch 
us  here  and  there,  now  and  then.  Manners 
are  what  vex  or  soothe,  corrupt  or  purify, 
exalt  or  debase,  barbarize  or  refine,  by  a 
constant,  steady,  uniform,  insensible  opera- 
tion, like  that  of  the  air  we  breathe  in," 

As  a  sort  of  statesmanship  in  dealing  with 
details,  tact  is  of  importance  in  administra- 
tion, for  administration  is  but  in  small  part 
made  up  of  the  management  of  heroic  attacks, 
desperate  defenses,  and  sudden  and  decisive 
climaxes  of  success  or  defeat.  It  is  much 
more  the  flexible  bending  of  the  will  to  one 
detail  after  another,  the  eliminating  of  a 
small  loss  here  and  a  small  uncertainty  there, 
the  daily  stimulating  of  others  by  deference 
and  just  praise,  the  guidance  of  others  by 
innumerable  unobtrusive  hints,  and  the  con- 
stant removal  of  the  small  differences  which 
lie  in  the  way  of  united  action. 

One  of  the  secrets  of  the  efficiency  of  tact 
lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  the  expression  of 


METHODS   OF  THE   ADMINISTRATOR  225 

sympathy.  Beyond  the  pressure  of  necessity, 
and  the  requirements  of  an  established 
standard  of  living,  the  great  animating  force 
which  sustains  men  in  every  kind  of  work  is 
sympathy.  Not  only  does  it  come  as  a  wel- 
come testimony  to  those  who  are  convinced 
of  their  own  merits,  but  it  acts  as  a  stimulus 
to  arouse  the  discouraged  to  use  the  talents 
others  see  in  them.  To  feel  understood  and 
esteemed  is  to  feel  yoked  up  with  all  vigor- 
ous useful  men,  harnessed  to  the  world's 
great  problems,  and  to  be  certain  that  one  is 
pulling  in  the  right  direction,  along  the  road 
leading  to  an  earthly  paradise.  The  secret 
of  saying  ' l  no, ' '  in  such  a  way  as  to  confer  a 
favor,  is  to  hear  the  suitor's  story  with  so 
much  sympathy  and  respect  that  his  down- 
cast and  worried  mind  is  eased,  and  he  goes 
away  with  increased  hope  and  vigor  to  apply 
elsewhere. 

The  severe,  snappy,  discourteous  execu- 
tive violates  what  Herbert  Spencer  calls  the 
fundamental  law  of  rhetoric,  which  is, 
"Economy  of  the  recipient's  attention  is  the 
secret  of  effect.' '  Under  the  reassuring  in- 
fluence of  a  gracefully  expressed  sympathy, 
men  feel  easy,  the  cramping  influence  of  fear 
dissolves,  and  the  powers  are  released  from 


226  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

distrust  and  discouragement  to  a  natural  un- 
fettered vigorous  action.  "Thy  gentleness 
hath  made  me  great, ' '  said  David. 

Courtesy  is  the  tribute  of  manners  to  the 
merit  of  others.  By  disposing  of  the  prob- 
lem of  the  manner  in  which  one  is  considered 
by  others,  it  promotes  ease  of  intercourse. 
When  men  who  are  in  negotiation  become 
reassured  as  to  the  personal  aspect  of  their 
mutual  relations,  they  find  their  affairs 
vastly  simplified,  for  they  are  then  able  to 
banish  all  questions  of  rivalry  and  animosity, 
and  confine  their  differences  strictly  to  those 
which  arise  from  the  nature  of  the  interests 
they  represent.  The  reward  of  the  courteous 
man  is  friendship  and  gratitude.  His  effi- 
ciency lies  in  part  in  the  tribute  he  receives 
of  the  energy  he  arouses  in  others. 

We  might  well,  in  this  day  of  enlighten- 
ment, leave  without  debate  the  ancient  ques- 
tion whether  administrative  policies  are 
more  efficient  when  based  on  fear  or  affec- 
tion, but  the  subject  connects  itself  with  that 
of  discipline.  Machiavelli  declared  for  the 
use  of  fear  in  the  well-known  passage  of  the 
Prince :  ' 'Men  have  less  scruple  in  offending 
one  who  is  beloved  than  one  who  is  feared, 
for  love  is  preserved  by  the  link  of  obliga- 


METHODS   OP  THE  ADMINISTRATOR  227 

tion,  which,  owing  to  the  baseness  of  men,  is 
broken  at  every  opportunity  for  their  advan- 
tage; but  fear  preserves  you  by  a  dread  of 
punishment  which  never  fails.' '  If  Machia- 
velli  had  trod  the  streets  of  Athens  in  the 
time  of  Socrates  he  might  have  been  an- 
swered by  the  sage  as  was  Chaerecrates : 
"You  surely  are  not  one  of  those  men,  are 
you,  who  think  wealth  more  valuable  than 
brothers,  when  wealth  is  but  a  senseless 
thing,  and  a  brother  endowed  with  reason, 
when  wealth  needs  protection,  while  a 
brother  can  give  protection,  and  when  wealth 
besides  is  plentiful,  while  brothers  are 
scarce  ? ' ' 

It  may  be  added  that  as  administrative 
methods  rise  or  fall  in  quality  with  the  na- 
ture and  purposes  of  the  governor,  so  they 
do  also  with  the  nature  and  spirit  of  the 
governed.  The  executive  often  does,  not 
what  he  would,  but  what  he  can.  Brutal 
punishments  and  a  ramrod  discipline  were 
required  to  keep  the  army  of  Frederick  the 
Great  in  order,  for  it  was  composed  of  mer- 
cenaries hired  or  kidnapped  by  recruiting 
officers  in  all  the  countries  of  Europe.  Flog- 
ging was  deemed  essential  in  Wellington's 
army  in  Spain,  while  the  English  privates 


228  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

worked  for  wages  to  protect  a  country  they 
despised,  against  French  armies  they  more 
than  half  believed  were  fighting  for  the 
rights  of  the  common  man.  Such  brutality 
was  not  required  in  the  French  republican 
armies,  composed  of  men  who  eagerly  sprang 
to  the  colors  in  response  to  the  double  call 
of  the  defense  of  the  nation  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  liberties  of  the  people.  Nor 
was  it  required  during  the  Civil  War  in  the 
armies  of  the  North  and  South  which,  with 
terrible  determination,  demanded  of  their 
leaders  conflict  again  and  again. 

Fear  may  alone  produce  results  with  bru- 
tal or  unstable  natures,  but  with  men  who 
refuse  to  fear  a  nobler  principle  of  union  is 
needed.  The  discipline  of  fear  is  a  poor 
substitute  for  the  discipline  of  loyalty.  The 
rapid  advance  of  the  masses  of  men,  in  all 
progressive  countries,  during  this  genera- 
tion, into  a  new  freedom  of  wealth  and  intel- 
ligence, is  eliminating  the  industrial  drive- 
master  who  bases  his  administration  on  the 
lowest  stratum  of  human  motives,  just  as  in 
a  preceding  generation,  a  similar  step  in 
progress  eliminated  the  slave-master. 

Courtesy  is  a  sort  of  overflow  of  energy. 
It  is  good  measure  of  vital  force  in  a  man— 


METHODS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  229 

"pressed  down,  shaken  together,  and  run- 
ning over. "  It  is  the  natural  manner  of  the 
man  who  is  abundantly  able  to  meet  the 
claims  which  his  work  lays  upon  him.  It  re- 
quires surplus  strength  to  command  one's 
talents  to  gracious  action;  the  lack  of  the 
graces  is  one  sign  of  nervous  exhaustion. 
Some  one  has  said,  * '  Be  polite ;  perhaps  your 
family  won't  mind  if  you  practice  on  them.,, 
The  point  of  this  is  that  to  play  the  part  of 
the  tyrant  is  the  over-taxed  man's  relaxation. 
It  is  the  little  fellow  whose  equilibrium  is 
being  constantly  upset,  either  into  insolence 
with  his  subordinates,  or  sycophancy  before 
his  superiors.  A  great  part  of  the  sarcasm 
and  ridicule  in  the  world  comes  from  weak 
visionaries  who  have  been  upset  by  the  force 
of  things  and  have  turned  sour;  turned  into 
cynics.  The  really  keen  intellect  gladly  gives 
just  praise,  for  it  understands  how  much 
more  useful  is  the  discovery  and  encourage- 
ment of  merit  than  the  censure  of  defects.  It 
is  the  character  conscious  of  the  abundance 
of  its  own  merits  which  can  afford  to  ignore 
them  in  the  presence  of  others.  Samuel 
Johnson  once  said,  "All  censure  of  a  man's 
self  is  oblique  praise.  It  is  in  order  to  show 
how  much  he  can  spare. ' '    The  call  to  attain 


230  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

efficiency  by  means  of  courteous  and  gen- 
erous methods  is  in  no  wise  a  call  to  effemi- 
nacy, but  directly  the  opposite.  It  is  a  call 
to  win  where  the  rules  of  the  game  are  strict 
and  one  must  win  without  a  blow  below  the 
belt.  It  is  a  call  to  greater  precision  and 
elegance  of  means. 

Compromise 

"There  is  that  scattereth  and  yet  increas- 
eth,"  says  Proverbs. 

Diplomacy  presents  the  apparent  miracle 
of  perpetually  deferring  and  yet  advancing; 
of  giving  away  and  yet  gaining.  This  illu- 
sion is  due  partly  to  the  fact  that  diplomacy 
often  makes  its  way  by  means  of  a  succes- 
sion of  small  steps  in  each  of  which  some- 
thing slightly  more  important  is  won, 
through  something  scarcely  less  important 
conceded.  It  arises  also  from  the  practice 
of  trading  off  that  which  is  personally  more 
flattering,  and  temporarily  more  prominent, 
for  that  which  in  the  end  will  possess  more 
value  for  the  essence  of  the  negotiation.  The 
master  of  compromises  understands  that 
most  successful  affairs  are  a  process  of  ad- 
justing things  so  that  they  shall  be  as  people 
want  them;  and  that  the  majority  of  people 


METHODS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  231 

want  the  immediate  and  the  obvious  and  the 
personal  advantage,  and  readily  yield  the  suc- 
cess which  is  distant  and  abstract,  to  the  one 
who  will  give  them  such  an  advantage. 

Compromise  is  a  dangerous  game  for  weak 
men.  Its  tendency  is  to  strengthen  the 
strong  and  weaken  the  weak.  It  has  the 
irksome  indefiniteness  and  suspense  of  a 
"politik  von  fall  zu  fall."  For  it  is  uncer- 
tainty which  is  the  sting  of  responsibility. 
To  play  at  compromise  there  is  needed  a  per- 
fect knowledge  of  what  is  essential  and  what 
is  collateral,  so  that  the  spirit  of  deference 
and  compromise  may  be  constantly  fed  by 
giving  way  on  the  collaterals,  while  solid 
advance  is  nevertheless  made  in  essential 
matters.  Without  this  knowledge  one  is  in 
danger  of  losing  track  of  the  balance  of  ad- 
vantage, as  the  discussion  winds  from  point 
to  point,  and  will  find  himself  unable  to  esti- 
mate the  accumulated  significance  of  his  va- 
rious concessions.  Among  men  of  the  high- 
est executive  ability,  it  is  amazing  what  a 
mass  of  secondary  matters  is  taken  for 
granted,  or  is  settled  in  a  spirit  of  generous 
compromise.  "The  gifted  man,"  said  Car- 
lyle,  "is  he  who  sees  the  essential  point  and 
leaves  all  the  rest  aside  as  surplusage. ' '    It 


232  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

may  be  said  that  the  diplomatic  man  is  he 
who  sees  the  essential  point,  and  uses  the 
surplusage  as  concessions  with  which  to  win 
the  point. 

Compromise  is,  likewise,  a  hard  policy  for 
men  of  distrustful  nature,  who  doubt  the  gen- 
eral prevalence  of  a  spirit  of  fair  play.  By 
nervously  watching  for  traps,  they  show  that 
nothing  is  left  to  the  honor  of  others,  and 
so  lower  the  moral  tone  of  negotiations. 
Such  men  exhaust  themselves  in  petty  pre- 
cautions, and  yet  without  disarming  the  real 
opposition.  By  the  tedious  turnings  and 
windings  in  which  they  hide  their  interest 
they  provoke  others  to  probe  it  out.  Those 
who  do  not  believe  in  others  have  not  the 
imagination  to  conceive  that  when  they  are 
treated  generously  it  can  be  in  good  faith; 
nor  can  they  make  such  bold  propositions  as 
attract  the  special  admiration  of  magnani- 
mous men,  and  win  the  greatest  concessions 
from  them,  by  implying  that  they  are  mag- 
nanimous. 

As  compromise  involves  an  advantage, 
first  to  one  and  then  to  another,  it  is  an  un- 
welcome policy  to  persons  who  cannot  rest 
contentedly  under  a  temporary  appearance 
of  being  at  a  disadvantage.  Those  who  are 
restless  to  distinguish  themselves,  in  small 


METHODS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  233 

matters  as  well  as  large,  and  who,  like  chil- 
dren, must  win  every  time,  are  not  apt  at 
negotiations.  They  will  dislike  to  look  at 
the  arguments  of  others,  for  fear  of  having 
to  accede;  they  will  be  loth  to  follow  the 
suggestions  of  others,  for  fear  of  appearing 
to  be  led. 

Just  Proportion 

We  have  advanced  the  idea  that  the  char- 
acteristic virtue  of  the  gentleman  is  that 
under  the  complex  conditions  of  modern  so- 
ciety he  is  the  one  who  best  succeeds  in  select- 
ing and  proportioning  the  objects  of  life,  so 
that  there  results  an  harmonious  and  effec- 
tive character,  the  energies  of  which  work  in 
smooth  accord  with  the  chief  uplifting  ten- 
dencies of  his  age.  The  gentleman-adminis- 
trator can  then  be  no  other  than  one  who, 
when  he  becomes  an  administrator,  refuses 
to  forget  that  he  has  still  to  be  a  gentleman. 
When  he  is  placed  in  authority  over  subordi- 
nates for  specific  ends,  and  must  work  within 
definite  limits  of  cost  and  administrative  ne- 
cessity, he  does  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact 
that,  as  an  intellectual  being,  he  must  work 
for  the  general  triumph  of  reason ;  as  a  lover 
of  beauty,  he  must  contrive  to  increase  the 


234  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

sum  and  variety  of  it;  and  as  a  moral  being, 
he  owes  allegiance  to  right  in  every  depart- 
ment of  his  life.  He  is  one  who  recognizes 
with  joy  that  an  organization  which  brings 
men  together  in  intimate,  permanent,  daily 
relations,  as  does  an  industrial  establish- 
ment, can  accomplish,  in  addition  to  its  imme- 
diate or  principal  object,  a  thousand  inci- 
dental things  to  beautify  the  lives  of  those 
who  are  connected  with  it. 

Of  all  persons,  in  the  present  economic  or- 
der, to  whom  industry  can  look  for  leader- 
ship into  a  more  justly  proportioned  life,  the 
administrator  has  the  greatest  advantage. 
His  tasks  are  more  varied  and  broadening 
than  those  of  others.  By  turn  a  commander, 
a  courtier,  an  educator,  a  confessor,  and  a 
student;  he  exercises,  now  the  perceptive 
faculties,  and  now  the  creative;  winning  at 
one  time  by  clear-cut  reasoning,  at  another 
by  warm  sympathy.  As  the  administrator 
masters  his  art,  he  learns  the  wonderful  va- 
riety of  human  needs  and  aspirations,  and 
he  comes  to  know  that  "man  does  not  live 
by  bread  alone.' '  The  administrator's  task 
chiefly  revolves  around  the  function  of  bal- 
ancing plant  and  personnel,  inasmuch  as  it 
calls  upon  him  to  select  fit  elements,  to  com- 


METHODS  OP  THE   ADMINISTRATOR  235 

bine  them  in  efficient  ratios,  and  to  harmonize 
them  in  performance.  His  mind  is  drawn, 
therefore,  to  such  a  consideration  of  the  fit- 
ness of  means  to  end,  and  of  the  mutual  re- 
straint in  all  concurrent  functioning,  that  he 
is  specially  prepared  to  address  himself  to 
the  greater  task  of  improving  the  relation  of 
the  various  interests  of  life,  in  so  far  as  they 
may  be  reached  by  economic  agencies. 
Finally,  the  administrator  is  under  a  noble 
obligation,  for  his  position  is  a  conspicuous 
one,  and  it  lays  upon  him  the  duty  of  being 
the  first  gentleman  of  his  organization,  as 
it  is  becoming  that  a  king  should  be  the  first 
gentleman  of  his  realm. 


Chapter  XII 

THE   IDEALS    OF  THE   GENTLEMAN- 
ADMINISTRATOR 

He   whom   a   dream   hath    possessed   knoweth   no   more   of 

doubting, 
For  mist  and  the  blowing  of  winds  and  the  mouthing  of 

words  he  scorns; 
Not  the  sinuous  speech  of  schools  he  hears,  but  a  knightly 

shouting 
And  never  comes  darkness  down  yet  he  greeteth  a  million 

morns. 

— Shaemas  0  Sheet. 

'""pHE  ideal  is  a  light  which  reveals  a  goal 
A  of  effort,  and  invests  all  familiar  means 
with  a  fresh  significance.  It  is  a  measure 
which  sifts  men,  and  institutes  competitions. 
It  is  a  courier  announcing  the  near  arrival  of 
a  new  reality.  Its  beauty  softens  the  will  to 
flexibility,  its  pure  humanity  touches  the 
feelings,  its  difficulty  challenges  all  the  tal- 
ents to  awake.  It  is  through  the  appeal  of 
the  ideal  that  men  are  aroused,  instructed, 
and  governed.  We  never  know  what  a  body 
of  men  can  do,  nor  what  can  be  made  of  a 
department  of  life,  until  the  appropriate 
ideal  appears.  It  was  an  ideal,  communi- 
cated by  the  mouth  of  a  prophet  which 
aroused  the  sparse  population  of  an  ignored 
237 


238  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

and  barren  corner  of  the  world,  and  caused 
the  Arab  to  bestir  himself,  to  learn  his  let- 
ters, to  consolidate  his  government,  to  mul- 
tiply his  numbers,  and  to  asemble  the  armies 
which  carried  his  empire  from  India  to  the 
Pillars  of  Hercules.  When  the  freshness 
and  appeal  of  his  vision  departed,  he  began 
the  slow  process  of  shrinking  back  within 
his  original  boundaries. 

Every  department  of  life  needs  periodical 
renovating  with  new  ideals,  to  dissolve  the 
traditions  which  tend  to  incrust  it,  to  lift  it 
out  of  the  drudgery  into  which  it  tends  to 
sink,  and  to  arouse  energy  and  reunite  men. 
No  realm  of  human  endeavor  stands  in 
greater  need  of  the  invigorating  effect  of  a 
new  group  of  ideals  than  does  productive  in- 
dustry— the  world  of  manufacturing,  trans- 
porting, and  trading.  It  is  true  that  great 
things  have  been  wrought  in  this  field,  but 
the  original  program  of  the  industrial 
revolution  has  been  pretty  well  worked  out. 
At  least,  what  remains  to  do  is,  compara- 
tively speaking,  a  matter  of  detail,  without 
the  stimulating  effect  of  a  new  conception. 
World  trade  has  now  been  carried  on  for 
several  generations ;  the  introduction  of  ma- 
chinery is  a  process  over  a  century  old;  the 


IDEALS  OF  THE   ADMINISTRATOR  239 

creation  of  great  units  has  even  become  a 
menace;  and  the  continued  application  of 
science  is  reasonably  assured.  If  industry- 
is  to  accomplish  equally  great  things  in  the 
future,  it  will  require  a  new  program  which 
equally  appeals  to  the  imagination. 

One  reason  for  the  intellectual  bareness  of 
the  outlook  is  the  undue  separation  of  the  va- 
rious departments  of  economic  life  from  one 
another,  so  that  we  think  of  one  world  of 
activity  as  having  exclusively  to  do  with  the 
producing  of  wealth,  and  another  with  the 
use  of  wealth  to  promote  well-being.  The 
softening  influences  which  should  be  felt 
throughout  industry,  from  intimate  acquain- 
tance with  the  process  of  converting  wealth 
back  into  terms  of  opportunity  and  health 
and  comfort,  is  lost.  The  spiritual  import 
of  producing  is  partly  disguised  because  the 
process  of  realizing  the  spiritual  import  of 
wealth  is  not  associated  with  it.  Industry 
becomes  the  perpetual  hewer  of  wood  and 
drawer  of  water. 

If  the  world  of  industry  suffers  from  this 
unnatural  separation,  consumption  is  injured 
likewise.  Where  spending  is  most  com- 
pletely divorced  from  industry,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  idle  rich  and  the  retired  rich,  does  it 


240  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

measure  up  satisfactorily  in  the  sphere  of 
the  intellect?  It  reveals  to  us,  over  and 
over  again,  two  or  three  simple  expedients. 
One  is  to  shift  the  responsibility  of  the  whole 
problem  onto  others  by  lump-sum  gifts,  an- 
other is  to  avoid  the  matter  for  a  time  by  re- 
investing income,  and  the  third  is  to  spend. 
This  spending  is  for  the  most  part  equally 
elementary.  It  is  a  simple  story  of  exclu- 
sions and  duplications;  exclusion  instanced 
by  individual  parks,  and  galleries,  and 
launches,  and  cars,  and  other  social-consump- 
tion goods,  to  which  an  individuality  is  rarely 
given  by  the  monopolizing  owner;  duplica- 
tion, in  several  houses  instead  of  one,  forty 
rooms  instead  of  twenty,  over-decorated  fur- 
nishings, art  collections  in  which  one  piece 
kills  the  effect  of  the  other,  multiplication  of 
automobiles,  etc.  One  is  reminded  of  Sam- 
uel Johnson's  amusing  description  of  the 
"tradesman's  expanded  dinner,' '  "two 
roasts,  two  plum  puddings,"  etc.,  because 
nothing  else  could  be  thought  of.  It  is  a 
record  of  things  made  larger  without  im- 
provement, of  things  made  for  permanence 
and  destroyed  after  a  single  use,  of  things 
brought  from  a  distant  environment  where 
they  harmonized  and  set  down  amid  wholly 


IDEALS   OF  THE   ADMINISTRATOR  241 

different  surroundings  where  they  are  out  of 
place. 

Even  in  the  consumption  of  the  masses,  the 
bad  effect  of  separating  the  life  of  earning 
from  the  life  of  spending  may  be  seen.  Over 
against  exhausted  workers  are  those  whose 
immunity  from  toil  they  purchase — the  many 
idle  girls  and  women  preyed  upon  by  the 
vagaries  of  fashion  which  keep  them  forever 
preening  and  coveting  and  buying.  The  bar- 
renness and  fatigue  of  the  long  day  find  their 
sequel  in  the  stupid  evening  bill  for  stimu- 
lants and  narcotics,  which  amounts  to  a  stu- 
pendous total  for  the  nation.  The  bad  taste 
of  the  productive  life  educates  a  race  of 
people  who  are  able  to  tolerate  the  bad  taste 
of  our  ostentatious  restaurant  and  hotel  life, 
and  our  tawdry  amusement  industries. 

Divorced  from  the  system,  and  science,  and 
the  habit  of  weighing  outlay  and  return, 
which  productive  industry  so  constantly  em- 
ploys, consumption  seems  to  reel  and  plunge 
as  if  it  lacked  standards  and  limits  and  clear 
aims.  And  in  failing  it  hurts  the  industrial 
life,  for  if  men  are  in  industry  only  for  a 
sequel,  and  lose  respect  for  the  sequel,  what 
is  to  prevent  their  energies  from  sleeping 
the   sleep   of    a   purposeless    life?     If   the 


242  BUSINESS  ADMINISTRATION 

process  of  wealth-consumption  falls  into  a 
state  of  stagnation,  it  makes  a  strenuous  pro- 
ductive industry  look  ridiculous.  It  is  un- 
reasonable to  expect  men  to  cultivate  heroic 
discipline  in  industry,  merely  to  furnish  the 
means  of  keeping  up  a  process  of  consump- 
tion which  the  moral  sense  of  their  own  age 
condemns. 

One  great  remedy  for  these  conditions  in- 
timately concerns  the  business  executive.  It 
is  a  program  upon  which  he  may  begin 
at  once,  in  his  place  of  business,  without  any 
formality  of  launching  a  new  association,  and 
without  intrusting  his  plan  to  the  uncertain 
winds  of  a  "general  moral  awakening."  This 
plan  is  to  stop  conceiving  of  industry  as  a 
mere  process  of  making  money,  or  even  as  a 
process  of  producing  and  handling  goods, 
and  to  think  of  it  as  a  true  cross-section  of 
normal  life,  which  can  be  made  complete  and 
healthy  and  efficient  and  honorable  only  by 
compounding  it  of  many  human  elements, 
and  making  it  many-sided  and  well  balanced. 
Industry  is  more  than  a  process,  even  more 
than  an  art  of  making  good  and  beautiful 
things;  it  is  an  art  of  life.  Its  inevitable 
product  is  some  sort  of  human  character. 
As  an  art  it  should  aspire,  as  all  other  arts 


IDEALS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  243 

do,  to  simplicity,  skill,  obedience  to  form  and 
method,  to  symmetry  and  elegance;  aspire 
to  be  a  recreation  as  well  as  an  expending 
of  energy,  a  life  beautiful  and  pleasurable 
in  itself,  as  well  as  disciplinary  and  utili- 
tarian. A  business  organization  should  be 
conceived  of  as  a  real  standing-together  of  a 
company  of  brothers  to  take  care  of  each 
other,  and  enjoy  a  portion  of  their  lives  to- 
gether. 

In  bringing  such  a  point  of  view  to  bear 
upon  his  life  work,  the  administrator  should 
aim  to  utilize  the  equipment  of  his  industrial 
organization,  including  its  staff  of  experts, 
its  administrative  skill,  its  buildings, 
grounds,  credit,  and  influence,  for  the  in- 
crease of  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  all 
the  associates,  in  non-economic  lines  not  al- 
ready efficiently  provided  for,  and  to  the 
maximum  consistent  with  the  productive 
functions  which  must  be  carried  on.  Espe- 
cially, perhaps,  can  the  producing  organiza- 
tion be  used  to  obtain  the  advantage  of  group 
consumption,  in  those  lines  where  the  econ- 
omy of  joint  use  is  great,  as  in  the  case  of 
entertainments,  baths,  gymnasia,  parks,  etc. 
A  producing  organization  which  produces 
only  something  for  the  market,  and  does 


244  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

nothing  else  avoidable,  should  be  looked  upon 
as  an  abuse  of  human  nature. 

The  administrator  should  aim  to  break 
down  the  thought-tight  partition  which  has 
established  itself,  in  so  many  minds,  between 
working  and  living;  and  endeavor  to  redis- 
cover, for  himself  and  his  men,  the  art  of 
living  by  the  way,  realizing  that  a  great  part 
of  the  really  fine  opportunities  for  spending 
spring  out  of  the  association  of  men  together 
in  earning.  He  should  break  the  strain  of 
work  seasonably  with  recreation.  He  should 
think  it  right  and  normal  if  more  art  works 
get  into  offices  than  into  homes  or  galleries, 
and  if  more  stained-glass  windows  are  put 
up  in  shops  than  in  churches.  In  short,  he 
should  mix  the  pleasures  of  life  in  with  its 
work,  and  take  pains  to  crowd  as  many  kinds 
of  opportunity  as  possible  right  in  demo- 
cratically among  the  delivery  men,  and  the 
machinists,  and  the  clerks,  and  the  traveling 
men. 

Such  a  course  of  action  on  the  part  of  the 
administrator  will  bring  the  process  of  con- 
sumption into  sobering  contact  with  the 
science  and  discipline  of  productive  industry. 
Through  the  organized  agencies  necessary  in 
the  making  processes,  it  will  subject  men's 


IDEALS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  245 

actions  in  using  wealth  to  the  wholesome 
moral  sense  of  their  fellow  workers.  In  re- 
turn, industry  will  lose  its  drudgery,  and 
become  enlivened  with  something  of  the 
gaiety  and  variety  and  art  hitherto  much 
too  exclusively  monopolized  by  the  world  of 
consumption.  New  sources  of  energy  will 
be  developed  among  the  workers,  by  making 
the  rewards  of  effort  more  prompt,  more 
objective,  more  social,  more  refreshing  in 
variety  and  more  stimulating  of  loyalty  to 
the  industrial  organization  through  which 
they  come.  Men  will  even  be  able  to  work 
together  more  intelligently,  because  they  will 
know  each  other  on  some  other  than  the 
work  side  of  character,  production,  in  this 
way,  will  be  humanized.  It^wilT~guin  ends 
which,  in  realization,  will  not  kill  desire  and 
stagnate  in  ennui,  but  will  open  out  upon 
ever  more  attractive  vistas  of  future  possi- 
bility, and  become  a  real  programme  of  life. 
Well-being  will  be  increased  in  variety,  and 
will  be  distributed  with  greater  directness, 
good-will,  and  generosity. 

Industry  and  Art 

One  of  the  changes  which  must  be  grad- 
ually introduced  into  industry,  if  we  are  to 


246  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

prepare  the  way  for  a  fresh  outburst  of 
human  spirit  in  it,  is  to  increase  the  element 
of  pleasure.  There  are  parts  of  industry 
which  are  now  fascinating  to  the  workers. 
Western  America  glows  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  conquest  of  nature  by  the  mind.  Our 
Captains  of  Industry,  as  a  class,  have  been 
developed  to  a  certain  rugged  heroism  by  the 
fascination  of  imparting  discipline  to  great 
aggregations  of  men,  equipments,  and  ma- 
terials. Many  engineering  conceptions, 
many  smoothly  interlocking  systems  of  ad- 
ministration, and  many  conserving  plans  of 
financing,  have  been  accompanied,  in  the  do- 
ing, with  thrills  of  delight  which  have  bound 
the  performers  like  lovers  to  their  tasks. 

Good  work  and  joyous  work  are,  in  the 
long  run,  the  same.  Wherever  in  industry 
good  things  have  been  done — wherever 
achievements  have  been  characterized  by 
vigor  and  largeness  of  plan,  simplicity  and 
directness  of  method,  and  nervous  beauty 
and  finish  of  detail — we  may  be  sure  that  we 
have  to  do  with  work  which  has  permitted 
the  performer  to  experience  joy,  freedom, 
and  an  exulting  sense  of  strength,  while  it 
was  being  accomplished.  And,  contrariwise, 
when  we  find  the  worker  intelligent  and  joy- 


IDEALS  OF  THE   ADMINISTRATOR  247 

ous  we  may  expect  superior  results,  for  then 
the  psychological  conditions  are  right.  "Te- 
diousness,"  says  George  J.  Romanes,  "by 
the  painful  class  of  emotions  which  it 
arouses,  is  the  most  wearisome  or  exhausting 
of  the  influences  that  consume  the  nervous 
energies. ' '  On  the  other  hand, ' '  a  prolonged 
flow  of  happy  feelings  does  more  to  brace  up 
the  system  for  work  than  any  other  influence 
operating  for  a  similar  length  of  time." 
Pleasure  in  work  produces  a  sympathetic, 
teachable  mental  attitude  toward  the  task. 
It  makes  the  attention  involuntary,  and 
eases  the  strain  of  attending.  It  stops  the 
nervous  leaks  of  worry.  One  of  the  secrets 
of  lasting  well  is  to  avoid  getting  stale  and 
tired  and  in  a  mental  rut.  Pleasure  gives  a 
sense  of  freedom  that  is  a  rest,  as  a  wide 
road  rests  the  driver.  To  know  a  thing  thor- 
oughly and  attain  mastership  in  it,  one  must 
be  drawn  back  to  it  repeatedly  by  its  attrac- 
tions, and  must  find  one 's  powers  evoked  and 
trained  by  its  inspiration. 

To  introduce  pleasure  into  work  means  to 
make  of  industry  an  art.  "Real  art,"  as 
William  Morris  says,  "is  the  expression  by 
man  of  his  pleasure  in  labor."  Instead  of 
conceiving  of  the  productive  process  simply 


248  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

as  the  shortest  road  to  an  economic  good,  it 
plans  to  conserve  human  powers  by  the  way, 
and  to  make  labor  a  welcome  part  of  life,  ad- 
justing the  demands  of  economic  efficiency 
to  the  remaining  demands  of  civilization.  To 
bring  art  into  union  with  labor  is  to  give 
increased  intellectual  depth  to  tasks,  for  in- 
stead of  simply  calculating  the  structural 
form  required  in  an  object  by  physical  prin- 
ciples, the  problem  involves  the  devising  of 
ornament  which  conforms  to  esthetic  prin- 
ciples, and  finally  the  harmonizing  of  struc- 
ture and  ornament. 

Again,  art  here  as  elsewhere  gives  play  to 
that  finest  of  all  faculties,  imagination;  for 
while  the  most  efficient  utilitarian  form  of  an 
object  which  is  to  be  made  of  a  given  mate- 
rial and  to  perform  a  given  work  is  a  com- 
paratively definite  thing,  the  modifications 
which  may  be  made  in  the  interest  of  grace, 
and  the  ornament  of  artistic  merit  which 
may  be  added,  may  be  of  infinite  variety. 
Art,  therefore,  brings  into  employment  many 
faculties,  insuring  for  each  faculty  the  relief 
of  alternate  activity,  and  the  discipline  of 
concurrent  activity.  It  stimulates  all  the 
faculties  with  the  delights  of  sensuous  beauty 
and  the  near  approach  toward  ideals  of  per- 


IDEALS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  249 

fection.  "Life  without  industry  is  guilt; 
industry  without  art  is  brutality.' p 

The  conditions  required  to  bring  art  and 
labor  to  live  harmoniously  together  are:  to 
believe  in  the  large  possibilities  of  the  thing 
one  is  doing,  to  have  a  well-grounded  belief 
in  one's  powers  as  equal  to  these  possibili- 
ties, to  have  time  and  an  unharassed  mind 
to  master  methods  or  find  the  way  to  the 
attainment  of  these  possibilities,  and,  finally, 
to  be  granted  the  freedom  and  means  of  ex- 
pressing, in  the  work  itself,  the  knowledge 
and  talent  one  has  achieved. 

The  industrial  administrator  who  en- 
deavors to  fulfill  these  conditions,  and  make 
his  management  a  ministry  to  labor,  will  find 
that  one  of  the  first  steps  is  to  discover  the 
possibilities  of  the  work  assigned  to  each 
person,  and  the  scope  offered  by  it  for  pa- 
tience, dexterity,  close  reasoning,  and  imagi- 
nation. Especially  should  the  possibility  of 
a  fine  perfection  be  diligently  sought  in 
those  tasks  which  are  now  despised  as  drudg- 
ery. Drudgery  is  work  done  in  darkness  of 
spirit;  it  is  labor  shut  off  from  intelligence. 
The  administrator's  task  is  to  cause  intelli- 
gence to  shine  upon  the  dark  spots  of  indus- 
try, until  drudgery  disappears  in  enthusiasm 


250  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

for  a  newly  revealed  perfection.  The  admin- 
istrator should  lay  hold  of  every  possible 
help,  including  the  history  and  technique  of 
the  crafts  involved,  and  of  related  crafts, 
and  should  bring  to  his  employees  treasure 
from  his  store  of  knowledge,  as  rapidly  as 
they  are  able  to  assimilate  it  and  put  it  into 
practice. 

Another  portion  of  the  administrator's 
task  will  be,  while  maintaining  efficiency,  to 
allow  sufficient  freedom  for  the  growth  of 
talents.  It  is  only  when  variations  in  design 
and  methods  of  work  are  permitted,  that  men 
have  an  opportunity  to  think.  Freedom  to 
think  must  include  the  freedom  to  make  mis- 
takes, for  it  is  only  through  mistakes  that 
there  can  be  any  conception  of  better  and 
worse.  The  daring  conceptions  of  American 
engineering  testify  to  the  fact  that  the  tech- 
nical expert  has  been  given  an  exceptionally 
free  hand.  The  rich  and  varied  details  with 
which  the  Gothic  cathedrals  are  embellished 
prove  that  the  artisans  were  free  spirits  en- 
joying the  confidence  of  the  masters. 

There  will,  of  course,  be  many  difficulties, 
for  difficulties  are  a  chief  means  of  recogniz- 
ing a  worthy  ideal.  One  of  these  is  to  prove, 
by  the  doing  of  it,  that  the  pleasure  of  artis- 


IDEALS  OF  THE   ADMINISTRATOR  251, 

tic  work  can  be  made  to  accord  with  the 
profit  of  industrial  work.  A  dictionary  dis- 
tinction is:  "The  arts  are  distinguished  as 
the  esthetic  or  fine  arts,  or  arts  of  beauty, 
which  call  for  the  exercise  of  taste  and  imag- 
ination, and  which  furnish  the  sphere  of  the 
artist ;  and  the  useful,  industrial,  or  mechan- 
ical arts,  or  arts  of  utility,  which  require 
chiefly  manual  labor  or  skill,  and  which  en- 
gage the  ingenuity  of  the  artisan. ' !  Can  the 
artist  be  revived  in  the  artisan,  as  in  the 
wonderful  architectural  and  decorative  work 
of  the  middle  ages? 

One  of  the  several  forms  in  which  this  dif- 
ficulty presents  itself  is  to  overcome  the  im- 
pression that  the  understanding  and  practice 
of  art  requires  rare  talents,  so  that  artistic 
activity  must  forever  be  confined  to  the  few. 
On  this  point  William  Morris  says  : 

The  art  of  the  future  will  not  be  an  esoteric  mystery 
shared  by  a  little  band  of  superior  beings ;  it  will  be  no 
more  hierarchical  than  the  art  of  past  time  was,  but  like 
it  will  be  a  gift  of  the  people  to  the  people,  a  thing  which 
everybody  can  understand  and  every  one  surround  with 
love,  it  will  be  a  part  of  every  life,  and  a  hindrance  to 
none.  *  *  *  There  is  the  hard  business  for  us!  To 
get  all  simple  people  to  care  about  art,  to  get  them  to  in- 
sist on  making  it  part  of  their  lives,  whatever  becomes  of 
systems  of  commerce  and  labor  held  perfect  by  some  of  us. 


252  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

Another  phase  of  the  same  difficulty  is  to 
overcome  the  conviction  that  art  means  only 
the  few  best  known  fine  arts,  such  as  paint- 
ing, sculpture,  architecture  and  music.  It 
means  rather  the  application  of  a  body  of 
principles  capable  of  being  carried  into  a 
thousand  fields  of  human  endeavor.  The 
proof  of  this  may  be  found  in  any  museum 
in  which  examples  of  metal  work,  pottery, 
furniture  and  textiles  are  preserved,  which 
were  made  where  the  "wage  and  machine" 
system  did  not  interfere  with  the  normal 
exercise  of  human  talents. 

But  the  question  must  finally  be  faced,  how 
can  we  afford  to  introduce  art  into  industry? 
How  can  we,  who  are  struggling  with  the 
high  cost  of  living,  and  the  cost  of  high  liv- 
ing, give  the  workman  leisure  to  enjoy  his 
work  and  to  think,  and  arrange  for  him  a  task 
broad  enough  to  keep  his  powers  in  balance  f 
Can  modern  times  expect  to  be  able  to  have 
the  common  products  of  industry  again  made 
beautiful,  as  they  were  in  classical  and  medie- 
val times? 

The  answer  clearly  is  that,  if  we  could 
simplify  our  requirements  as  much  as  good 
taste  would  dictate,  we  could  afford  to  have 
our   requirements   conform   to   good   taste. 


IDEALS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  253 

This  does  not  mean  to  sacrifice  a  great  frac- 
tion of  the  refinements  of  life.  It  means  to 
abandon  excess  and  ostentation  and  bad  art, 
in  order  to  be  able  to  afford  better  artistic 
quality  in  things,  and  in  the  process  of  pro- 
ducing things. 

The  artist  as  a  consumer  is  one  who  has 
such  joy  in  worthy  material  and  fitting  form 
that  he  is  able,  without  sacrifice,  to  dispense 
with  size,  cost,  unnecessary  duplication,  false 
and  artificial  ornament,  and  all  other  osten- 
tatious qualities  in  things.  He  has  such  mis- 
ery at  the  thought  of  the  drudgery  of  those 
who  must  work  blindly,  and  produce  ugly 
things,  that  he  receives  no  pleasure  from 
abundance  of  things  purchased  at  such  cost. 
He  acts  on  Ovid's  advice:  "Let  us  have  more 
good  taste  than  expense.,,  It  is  the  artistic 
nature,  therefore,  which  obtains  much  from 
little,  and  uses  the  scale  of  pleasure  and  pain 
with  the  finest  economy.  It  is  the  crude  taste 
which  constantly  demands  something  new  to 
catch  its  roving  childish  attention,  and  which 
requires  superabundance  to  sufficiently 
stimulate  its  undeveloped  perceptions.  It 
is  the  individual  who  realizes  the  failure  of 
his  personal  resources,  who  requires  osten- 
tatious   qualities    (cost    without    merit)    in 


254  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

goods,  in  order  to  bring  his  brute  buying 
power  into  evidence. 

It  is,  then,  the  quality  of  crudity  in  the  con- 
sumer which  drives  the  producer  into  drudg- 
ery. That  portion  of  society's  resources 
which  is  wasted  in  consumption  must  be 
made  good  by  robbing  the  productive  process 
of  its  rightful  charms.  If  we  could  learn  to 
know  good  work,  and  appreciate  it  properly, 
we  could  be  happy  in  such  simplicity  that 
there  would  be  abundant  time  and  energy 
to  make  the  conditions  of  working  pleasur- 
able, and  to  evoke  the  talents  of  the  workers 
more  fully,  so  that  only  good  and  beautiful 
things  should  be  produced. 

How  can  the  consuming  public  be  educated 
to  that  skill  and  discrimination  in  consump- 
tion called  "good  taste"?  The  answer  brings 
us  back  to  the  original  undertaking.  A  great 
part  of  the  general  debasement  of  taste, 
which  is  responsible  for  poor  economy  among 
the  poor  and  criminal  waste  among  the  rich, 
is  the  result  of  the  narrowing  effect  of  a 
machine,  division-of-labor,  cash-profits  kind 
of  industry.  It  is  dreary  industry  which 
drives  men  to  wealth,  as  an  end,  or  way  of 
escape.  But  in  the  driving  process  the  devel- 
opment of  the  faculties  is  sacrificed,  so  that 


IDEALS  OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  255 

when  the  industrialist  turns  to  use  his  wealth, 
he  wastes  so  much  that  he  must  continue  to 
starve  his  industrial  life  to  supply  his  spuri- 
ous needs  as  a  consumer. 

The  strategic  point  of  attack  upon  this 
vicious  circle  is  in  industry,  where  the  cap- 
tains of  industry  are,  and  where  there  are 
organizations  which,  with  their  discipline, 
science  and  technical  efficiency,  are  able  to 
bring  the  mass  of  men  under  the  influence 
of  the  intelligence  of  the  leaders.  Since  the 
workers  are  a  great  majority  of  the  consum- 
ers, any  advance  accomplished  by  these  lead- 
ers in  making  the  productive  process  refining 
and  satisfying,  will  revive  the  artistic  sense 
of  the  workers,  and  will  be  felt  at  once  in  the 
wiser  choices  of  consumers.  If  the  captains 
of  industry  will  enter  upon  a  new  leadership, 
there  is  a  chance  that  the  wonders  of  the 
industrial  revolution  may  be  eclipsed  by  the 
wonders  of  an  industrial  humanization. 

Industry  and  Ethics 

One  of  the  demands  of  our  time  is  to  bring 
industry  into  line  with  the  ethical  advance 
of  society.  The  more  generally  knowledge 
is  distributed  with  reference  to  the  nature 
and  effects  of  our  present  industrial  process, 


256  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

the  more  it  is  felt  that  productive  power  is 
now  so  great  that  the  claim  of  necessity  is  no 
longer  a  sufficient  excuse  for  disregard  of 
the  moral  code.  Industry  is  no  longer  a 
moral  infant;  there  must  be  free  trade  with 
the  world  of  moral  judgments. 

Unselfishness  of  end  and  efficiency  of 
means  is  the  formula  of  every  fine  human 
ideal.  Unselfishness  is  the  chief  impulsive 
power  of  culture,  that  "disinterested  en- 
deavor for  man's  perfection. ' }  As  Matthew 
Arnold  says, 

Culture  has  one  great  passion,  the  passion  for  sweetness 
and  light.  It  has  one  even  yet  greater! — the  passion  for 
making  them  prevail.  It  is  not  satisfied  till  we  all  come 
to  a  perfect  man;  it  knows  that  the  sweetness  and  light 
of  the  few  must  be  imperfect  until  the  raw  and  unkindled 
masses  of  humanity  are  touched  with  sweetness  and  light. 

Unselfishness  has  uniformly  been  the  cen- 
tral virtue  of  the  ideal  conceptions  of  men 
in  all  ages.  It  showed  itself  in  the  harsh 
fortitude  of  the  pagan  hero,  in  the  submis- 
sion of  the  Greek  ideal  citizen,  in  the  pa- 
triotic eloquence  of  the  Eoman  orator,  and 
in  the  gentle  resignation  of  the  Christian 
saint.  It  appeared  upon  the  field  of  battle 
in  the  romantic  honor  of  the  knight  of  chiv- 
alry, and  struggled  against  duplicity  and 
luxury  in  the  winning  courtesy  of  the  cour- 


IDEALS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  257 

tier.  It  is  today  the  spirit  which  shines  in 
the  reasonableness  and  fine  balance  of  the 
gentleman,  and  flashes  forth  in  his  contempt 
for  all  that  violates  fair  play. 

The  general  message  of  ethics  to  this  day 
of  social  differentiation,  specialized  aims, 
and  division  of  occupations,  is  to  avoid  going 
astray  in  the  multiplicity  of  life's  interests, 
and  of  being  enticed  out  of  the  main  highway 
of  life,  down  some  by-path  which  leads  to 
means  and  not  to  ends.  It  is  to  avoid  any 
form  of  half -life;  for  ethics  is  whole-living. 
It  calls,  therefore,  to  the  business  adminis- 
trator not  to  lose  the  fine  possibilities  of  his 
industrial  career,  by  getting  lost  in  the  mak- 
ing of  goods  or  the  accumulation  of  profits. 

From  generation  to  generation,  the  pro- 
portional value  attaching  to  different  virtues 
is  altered  by  the  changing  needs  of  the  times. 
Military  ardor  is  now  less  necessary  than  in 
ancient  civilizations.  In  a  complicated  so- 
ciety, promptness  of  decision  is  less  needed 
than  forethought.  In  a  day  of  enormous 
inanimate  productive  agencies,  thrift  and  in- 
dustry in  producing  are  less  essential  than 
fair  play  and  compassion  in  distributing.  As 
prosperity  brings  a  people  out  from  under 
the  hand  of  necessity,  a  negative,  threaten- 


258  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

ing  theology  gives  way  to  the  attraction  of 
splendid  approaching  consummations.  Men 
learn  to  do  fine  things,  not  because  they  are 
scared  into  it,  but  because  they  want  to. 

As  a  special  case  of  the  changing  ethical 
import  of  social  life,  industry,  which  has 
passed  through  amazing  transformations,  is 
having  prepared  for  it,  by  the  social  con- 
science, a  new  ethical  code.  The  progress 
of  economic  and  sociological  studies,  and  the 
devising  of  such  instruments  of  precision  as 
accounting,  is  giving  to  every  one  a  more 
definite  idea  of  the  nature  of  social  action 
and  reaction.  It  is  supplanting  the  vague 
pious  generalizations  by  which  we  once  ex- 
pressed our  hopes,  and  is  putting  in  their 
place  efficiency  reports  and  sociological  sur- 
veys. It  is  proving  why  certain  things  do 
not  pay,  and  doing  it  with  a  cool  and  deadly 
certainty  like  the  soldierly  advance  of  a 
piece  of  mathematical  reasoning  toward 
Q.  E.  D.  Bacteriology,  for  example,  now 
makes  it  clear  why  it  is  a  crime  to  produce 
impure  milk  for  children.  Physiological 
chemistry  has  made  adulteration  of  products 
look  very  different  than  it  did  when  it  was 
merely  a  fine  little  trade  secret.  In  a  similar 
way,  economic  analysis  is  probing  out  the  full 


IDEALS  OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  259 

significance  of  the  plan  of  running  a  business 
in  such  a  way  as  to  throw  upon  the  public 
the  cost  of  skinned  natural  resources,  of  an 
embittered  labor  policy,  and  of  the  frenzied 
consumption  which  drowns  the  memory  of 
drudgery.  The  thing  is  now  seen  through; 
the  tax  payer  is  "onto  the  game.,,  It  is 
understood  that  a  business  which  injures  the 
men  who  are  in  it  is  trying  to  wind  up 
other  businesses  by  injuring  their  possible 
future  executives,  or  mechanics,  or  stock- 
holders, or  consumers. 

The  large  size  of  modern  business  units 
has  transformed  their  internal  affairs  into 
social  issues.  By  a  simple  process  of  multi- 
plication of  significance,  it  has  lifted  what 
was  once  conceived  as  technique  into  the 
realm  of  political  economy,  and  what  was 
political  economy  into  the  realm  of  ethics. 
A  small  employer  drops  a  disaffected 
clerk,  and  it  is  a  personal  matter;  but 
a  great  corporation  confronts,  in  an  of- 
fended official  staff,  an  esprit  de  corps  which 
is  a  consolidated  power  of  expert  opinion, 
able  to  draw  down  the  condemnation  of  scien- 
tific societies.  A  disgruntled  laborer,  who  is 
one  of  a  dozen,  communicates  his  secret  to 
his  wife  in  the   evening;   a  thousand  em- 


260  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

ployees  of  a  great  concern  saturate  a  city 
with  opinion,  and  make  their  grievance  a 
municipal  issue. 

The  first  step  toward  changing  adminis- 
trative methods,  which  was  made  in  response 
to  new  conditions,  was  the  private  better- 
ment or  welfare  work  of  the  more  far-sighted 
employers.  The  second  was  the  publicity 
movement,  in  which  business  interests  began 
to  take  the  public  into  their  confidence.  The 
third  step  is  the  more  definite  and  avowed 
partnership  of  interest,  upon  which  the  pub- 
lic is  now  insisting. 

While  the  minister  of  the  Gospel  can  reach 
his  flock  periodically,  in  a  formal  assembly 
where  no  man  (of  the  few  present)  answers 
back,  the  administrator  has  intimate,  natural, 
and  specific  daily  relations  with  his  people, 
about  matters  in  which  they  are  in  dead 
earnest.  He  determines  where  they  shall 
work,  the  persons  with  whom  they  shall  asso- 
ciate, and  the  matters  of  which  they  shall 
think.  While  the  minister's  energy  becomes 
the  fugitive  word,  the  administrator  stamps 
his  principles  upon  his  customer's  mind  in 
a  long  remembered  profit  or  loss,  and  em- 
bodies them  in  the  materials  and  workman- 
ship of  the  things  which  in  the  using  will 


IDEALS   OP   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  261 

daily  remind  the  user  of  the  point.  The 
executive  has  no  back-sliders  nor  non-con- 
tributors among  his  forces,  and  he  carries 
on  his  services,  not  five  or  six  hours  a  week, 
but  fifty  or  sixty  hours.  The  administrator 
at  the  head  of  a  great  business  enterprise 
stands  as  the  modern  analogue  of  the  tribal 
chief,  who  allotted  estates,  or  of  the  master 
craftsman  who  preserved  traditions  of  the 
art.  As  he  advances  his  affairs,  backed  by 
staff,  and  operatives,  and  system,  and  rec- 
ords, and  apparatus,  and  stock,  and  working- 
capital,  he  resembles  a  commander  at  the 
head  of  his  troops.  With  such  a  relation  to 
his  fellow  men,  the  administrator  can  no 
more  make  good  the  claim  that  his  power 
means  only  business,  and  so  get  himself  hid- 
den from  observation  in  the  moral  world, 
than  a  city  which  is  set  on  a  hill  can  be  hid. 
He  must  in  spite  of  himself  be  some  kind  of  a 
"Shepherd  of  the  People."  His  leadership 
is  of  many  kinds  rolled  into  one.  There  rests 
upon  him  the  responsibility  of  trusteeship  of 
his  capital,  leadership  of  his  men,  and  states- 
manship in  dealing  with  the  public  interests. 
One  of  the  objections  raised,  when  it  is 
proposed  to  hold  the  executive  to  an  account- 
ing for  the  use  of  his  moral  power,  is  that 


262  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

geniuses  are  abnormal  men,  with  certain  im- 
pulses stronger  than  ordinary,  and  certain 
inhibitions  weaker,  so  that  if  society  would 
have  the  benefits  which  their  powers  can  ren- 
der, it  must  allow  their  natures  a  certain 
liberty  not  granted  to  others,  to  work  after 
their  own  fashion.  "What  is  genius?  Long- 
fellow said,  "infinite  painstaking";  Matthew 
Arnold  said,  "mainly  an  affair  of  energy"; 
Buff  on  said,  "superior  aptitude  to  pa- 
tience ' ' ;  Johnson  said, ' i  a  mind  of  large  gen- 
eral powers ' ' ;  Euskin  said,  ' '  superior  power 
of  seeing" ;  a  writer  on  military  strategy 
says,  "intuitive  power  of  grasping  things  as 
they  are";  and  George  Eliot  said,  "the  ca- 
pacity for  receiving  and  improving  by  dis- 
cipline." Where  is  the  warrant  for  moral 
license  and  riot  of  the  faculties  in  this  ?  The 
general  fallacy  underlying  the  proposition 
here  advanced  was  pulverized  by  John  Stuart 
Mill  in  the  following  passage  in  the  essay 
"On  Liberty": 

It  is  not  because  men's  desires  are  strong  that  they  act 
ill;  it  is  because  their  consciences  are  weak.  There  is  no 
natural  connection  between  strong  impulses  and  a  weak  con- 
science. The  natural  connection  is  the  other  way.  To  say 
that  one  person's  desires  and  feelings  are  stronger  and 
more  various  than  those  of  another,  is  merely  to  say  that 
he  has  more  of  the  raw  material  of  human  nature,  and  is 


IDEALS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  263 

therefore  capable,  perhaps  of  more  evil,  but  certainly  of 
more  good.  Strong  impulses  are  but  another  name  for 
energy.  Energy  may  be  turned  to  bad  uses;  but  more  good 
may  always  be  made  of  an  energetic  nature,  than  of  an 
indolent  and  impassive  one.  Those  who  have  most  natural 
feeling  are  always  those  whose  cultivated  feelings  may  be 
made  the  strongest.  The  same  strong  susceptibilities  which 
make  the  personal  impulses  vivid  and  powerful,  are  also  the 
sources  from  whence  are  generated  the  most  passionate 
love  of  virtue,  and  the  sternest  self-control. 

Even  if  it  be  granted  that  allowance  should 
be  made  for  the  vagaries  of  the  so-called i  l  ar- 
tistic temperament, ' '  it  must  at  once  be  plain 
that  unrestrained  passions  and  distorted 
views,  resulting  in  erratic  conduct,  entirely 
unfit  an  individual  for  administrative  func- 
tions. The  administrator  should  be,  in  char- 
acter, at  the  opposite  end  of  the  scale  of  hu- 
manity from  the  neurotic  unbalanced  type  of 
person,  for  whom  the  phrase  "  artistic  tem- 
perament" is  sometimes  indulgently  used  as 
an  apology. 

A  second  objection  to  the  introduction  of 
ethical  considerations  into  business  manage- 
ment frames  itself  in  the  oracular  and  wise- 
looking  axiom,  "Business  is  business." 
What  does  this  mean?  What  would  it  mean 
if  we  said  religion  is  religion,  and  politics 
is  politics,  and  baseball  is  baseball?  For  one 
thing,  it  would  mean  that  there  is  a  technique 


264  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

in  each  of  these  fields  of  activity  peculiar  to 
itself,  and  that  the  technique  of  other  sub- 
jects does  not  apply.  This  is  a  hazardous 
statement ;  for  while  there  is,  for  each  organ- 
ized activity,  what  appears  to  be  a  special 
technique,  it  is  constantly  being  shown  by 
experience  that  technical  principles  have  a 
wider  application  than  was  previously  real- 
ized. By  this  means,  the  realm  of  exclusive 
technique  is  being  progressively  narrowed 
to  smaller  matters  of  detail.  To  mention 
only  one  or  two  illustrations:  the  rules  of 
motion  study,  which  originated  in  business, 
have  been  applied  to  baseball,  with  revolu- 
tionary results.  And,  recently,  the  technique 
of  the  motion-picture  drama  has  revolution- 
ized motion  study.  A  prominent  divine  has 
shown  the  significance  of  the  principles  of 
business  efficiency  for  religious  organiza- 
tions, in  a  book  entitled  ' l  Scientific  Manage- 
ment in  the  Churches. ' '  A  few  years  ago  no 
one  would  have  thought  that  census-office 
methods  could  concern  the  cost  accountant, 
nor  that  the  "reaction  time,"  measured  in 
psychological  laboratories,  could  determine 
the  selection  of  many  industrial  employees. 
The  experience  of  scientific  research  is  that 
experts  tend  constantly  to  under-estimate  the 


IDEALS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  265 

wide  range  of  practical  knowledge,  and  to 
restrict  unduly  the  confines  of  their  field  of 
observation. 

Again,  the  wise-sounding  phrase,  "  Busi- 
ness is  business,' '  may  be  taken  to  mean  that 
the  ideals  and  larger  principles  of  judgment 
of  other  fields  of  human  endeavor  cannot  be 
applied  in  business.  This  is  still  less  de- 
fensible than  the  assertion  that  there  is  an 
exclusive  technique ;  for,  as  we  advance  from 
the  plane  of  restricted  and  specific  rules  to 
that  of  general  principles  and  ultimate  stand- 
ards, we  leave  those  ideas  which  are  based 
upon  peculiarity  of  materials,  or  special 
equipment,  or  limitations  of  time  and  place, 
and  have  to  do  with  the  applications  of  the 
general  laws  of  thinking  and  feeling  to  which 
all  men,  in  every  realm  of  activity,  are  sub- 
ject. If  the  business  executive  will  atten- 
tively study  Machiavelli's  "Prince,"  he  will 
find  that  many  of  the  policies  of  the  Captains 
of  Industry  were  old  in  Italian  politics  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  Let  him  do  the  same 
with  Jomini's  "Art  of  War,"  or  Von  Clause- 
witz's  "On  War,"  and  he  will  find  that,  by 
somewhat  changing  the  phraseology,  many 
principles  of  strategy  may  be  converted  into 
principles  of  business  administration.    And 


266  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

again,  if  he  will  listen  to  the  close  reasoning 
upon  human  virtues  and  vices,  presented  in 
the  addresses  of  Eev.  G.  Campbell  Morgan, 
he  will  realize  that,  at  bottom,  the  moral 
leader  counts  upon  the  same  human  forces 
and  safeguards  against  the  same  weak- 
nesses as  does  the  business  leader.  If  there 
is  scope  in  business  for  the  comprehensive 
use  of  human  talents,  then  the  moral  law  is 
there,  presiding  over  the  special  technique 
and  over  the  peculiar  applications  of  princi- 
ples, in  the  interest  of  an  efficient  general 
life. 

The  smug  little  phrase,  "  Business  is  busi- 
ness," is  sometimes  used  by  two  classes  of 
men  to  raise  a  false  issue  and  provide  an 
escape  from  duty.  These  classes  are  small, 
but  it  takes  but  few  persons  to  keep  in  cir- 
culation a  fallacy  which  hides  a  duty.  One 
of  these  classes  is  composed  of  business  men 
who  wish  to  continue  dishonorable  practices, 
or  who  do  not  believe  that  they  can  make  a 
success  with  better  methods.  The  other 
class  is  composed  of  certain  exponents  of 
culture  who  aspire  to  conform  to  Matthew 
Arnold's  definition  of  persons  who  "know 
the  best  that  has  been  thought  and  said  in 
the  world,"  but  who  have  no  desire  to  spend 


IDEALS   OP   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  267 

energy  in  the  attempt  to  beautify  industry, 
and  therefore  find  it  convenient  to  call  the 
task  hopeless.  They  have  no  "greater  pas- 
sion' '  to  "kindle  the  masses  of  humanity 
with  sweetness  and  light,"  but  prefer  to  eat 
the  lotus  of  unused  learning,  while  ' '  the  world 
is  in  torment  for  the  want  of  living  thought 
about  its  present  affairs."  "The  Christian 
ideal,' '  says  G.  K.  Chesterton,  "has  not  been 
tried  and  found  wanting.  It  has  been  found 
difficult  and  left  untried. ' '  The  same  may  be 
said  of  many  cultural  ideals. 

The  word  "unselfishness"  means  to  small 
natures  loss,  but  to  great  ones  the  saving  of 
life  from  inferior  things  so  that  it  may  be 
expended  upon  that  which  is  better.  Un- 
selfishness brings  directly  many  of  the  high- 
est values,  such  as  self-approval,  relations  of 
mutual  confidence  with  one 's  fellow-men,  and 
emulations  and  co-operations  to  beautify  the 
long  day  of  duty.  It  brings  other  gifts  in- 
directly. There  are  some  good  things  which 
can  be  reached  by  direct  effort,  but  others 
come  to  us  in  the  rebound.  Those  who  aim 
at  happiness  rarely  attain  it,  but  those  who 
aim  at  the  best  self-expression  receive  happi- 
ness as  a  gift,  just  as  those  who  aim  at  kind- 
liness attain  courtesy,  and  those  who  aim  at 


268  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

truth  attain  art,  and  those  who  aim  at  up- 
rightness attain  power. 

An  Administrator's  Creed 

Let  us  set  down  a  few  items  of  a  possible 
creed  for  a  business  administrator,  doing  so 
not  to  "lay  down  the  law,"  but  to  stimulate 
a  little  friendly  reasoning  together. 

I.  A  broader  study  of  the  art  of  adminis- 
tration should  be  made  than  heretofore.  The 
executive  should  acquaint  himself  with  the 
history  of  the  different  forms  of  the  art,  as 
it  has  developed  in  war,  politics,  ecclesiology, 
discovery,  and  other  lines  of  joint  endeavor ; 
and  he  should  draw  inspiration  and  breadth 
of  view  from  the  lives  of  great  leaders  in  all 
lines. 

II.  The  administrator  should  strive  in 
every  way  to  ennoble  the  conception  of  his 
calling,  mindful  of  the  rule  of  art  "dignify 
your  subject.' '  Eesponsibility  forms  the  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  of  all  professional 
work;  recognition  of  it,  the  root  of  profes- 
sional ethics;  and  pride  in  its  discharge,  a 
large  part  of  the  reward  of  professional  ser- 
vices. The  first  paragraph  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  code  is:  "A  physician 
should  be  imbued  with  the  greatness  of  his 


IDEALS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  269 

mission,  and  the  responsibility  he  habitually 
incurs  in  its  discharge/ ' 

III.  The  hours  of  life  devoted  to  industry 
should  be  made  more  beautiful  and  pleasur- 
able. A  beginning  may  be  made  in  behalf 
of  those  classes  which  most  need  the  cordial 
of  joy,  utilizing  first  of  all  the  incidental  op- 
portunities, such  as  an  existing  vocational 
aspiration  to  distribute  good  reading,  the 
presence  of  unused  rooms  and  equipment  to 
increase  sociability,  and  the  existence  of 
joint  purchasing  power  to  improve  consump- 
tion. "Men  have  no  pleasure  in  the  work 
by  which  they  make  their  bread,"  says  Rus- 
kin,  "and  therefore  look  to  wealth,  as  the 
only  means  of  pleasure/ ' 

IV.  The  administrator  should  conceive  of 
himself  more  as  the  leader  of  the  men  with 
whom  he  is  associated,  than  as  the  trustee 
of  the  property  he  manages;  for  men  are 
more  valuable  than  things.  He  should  be 
thought  of  by  the  men  as  a  friend  and  ad- 
visor and  just  judge.  It  is  a  real  adminis- 
trative triumph  to  make  one  and  the  same 
program  promote  the  efficiency  of  an  industry 
and  the  welfare  of  its  force  by  securing  the 
increased  efficiency  as  a  result  of  a  healthier 
and  happier  force. 


270  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

V.  The  chief  executive  may  well  give  spe- 
cial thought  to  his  function  as  a  representa- 
tive of  public  interests.  His  neighborhood 
should  be  able  to  feel  that  any  increase  of 
his  prosperity  and  influence  will  not  only 
mean  a  finer  policy  inaugurated  in  his  estab- 
lishment, but  will  "benefit  the  town/' 
strengthen  the  hands  of  good  government, 
help  the  park  and  play-ground  movement, 
and  the  public  library,  and  all  the  general 
interests. 

VI.  The  conditions  of  work  should  receive 
attention,  not  only  to  provide  heat,  light,  ven- 
tilation, and  sanitary  features,  which  pay  on 
a  horse-power  basis,  but  to  insure  an  efficient 
co-operation  between  management  and  men 
in  the  support  of  welfare  features. 

VII.  The  beautification  of  the  industrial 
environment  merits  special  care,  because  of 
the  ugliness  which  a  century  of  unrestrained 
utilitarian  construction  has  wrought  in  the 
world.  Factory  and  store  buildings,  because 
of  their  intermediate  character  between  pub- 
lic and  private  edifices,  should  partake  of 
the  internal  comfort  of  private  homes,  and 
of  the  external  dignity  of  public  buildings. 
Particularly  should  the  inexpensive  beauty 
of  graceful  general  proportions;  of  harmoni- 


IDEALS   OP   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  "271 

ous  colors,  and  of  landscape  gardening,  be 
availed  of. 

VIII.  The  ideal  administrator  will  take 
pains  to  establish  the  fact  that  the  aims 
sought  in  his  business  enterprise  are  joint 
or  common  ones.  Spontaneous  and  inde- 
pendent thinking  for  the  common  welfare 
should  be  invited  from  each  individual,  and 
prized  as  the  finest  expression  of  the  spirit 
of  loyalty. 

IX.  In  this  age  of  strenuous  publicity,  the 
gentleman-administrator  will  scrutinize  his 
advertisements  with  vigilance  to  make  them 
helpful  to  the  consumer,  and  truthful,  and 
to  make  certain  that  they  do  not  mar  the 
beauty  of  any  natural  scene,  nor  exact  an 
unnecessary  toll  of  attention  from  the  public. 

X.  The  standard  of  duties  and  rewards, 
or  the  principle  used  in  the  distribution  of 
income,  should  be  revised  by  the  adminis- 
trator in  the  light  of  the  new  principles  of 
efficiency,  and  of  the  knowledge  available 
from  psychology  and  ethics. 

Conclusion 

One  of  the  objects  toward  which  the  in- 
dustrial leader's  intelligence  should  direct  it- 
self is  to  keep  industry  in  the  full  perform- 


272  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

ance  of  its  functions,  not  only  as  a  producer 
of  goods,  but  as  a  school  of  the  virtues,  and 
as  a  means  of  joyful  self-expression.  The 
administrator  should  change  the  emphasis  in 
his  aims  to  accord  with  the  progressive  ten- 
dencies of  the  times,  striving  now  less  to  ac- 
quire rapidly  than  to  distribute  justly,  and 
thinking  less  of  the  mechanical  elements  of 
industry  than  of  its  spiritual  forces.  As  the 
times  call  for  it,  he  should  feel  himself  chal- 
lenged to  a  nicer  discrimination  in  the  use  of 
methods,  to  a  greater  prudence  in  adopting 
plans  which  work  well  in  the  long  run,  and 
to  a  more  social  intuition  in  following  indi- 
vidual policies  which  "  might  safely  be  made 
a  law  for  the  whole  world.' * 

Is  it  too  difficult  a  task  to  bring  modern  in- 
dustrial conduct  into  harmony  with  modern 
thinking?  In  this  latest  century  of  enlight- 
enment, in  the  freest  and  richest  country  of 
the  globe,  must  it  be  said  of  the  leaders  of 
the  great  industries  that  there  is  any  ancient 
model  of  bravery,  any  principle  of  middle- 
age  chivalry,  any  Eenaissance  standard  of 
culture,  or  any  modern  gospel  of  service, 
which  is  too  fine,  too  difficult,  or  too  expen- 
sive, for  them  to  translate  into  reality?  Is 
there  an  ideal  country  toward  which  society 


IDEALS  OP  THE   ADMINISTRATOR  273 

is  moving,  but  from  which  the  Captain  of 
Industry  must  be  excluded,  as  an  "undesir- 
able immigrant,"  because  his  estate  is  too 
small  in  spiritual  riches? 

Such  a  thing  is  impossible.  The  business 
administrator  is  the  leader  by  right  of  ability 
in  what  the  great  majority  have  thought  it 
most  worth  while  to  struggle  for  in  recent 
generations.  The  aristocracy  of  the  past 
sprang  from  industrial  administrators, — 
landed  proprietors, — who  made  themselves 
defenders  of  the  people.  The  earls  were 
jarls  or  strong  ones,  the  dukes  leaders,  and 
the  lords  law-wards  or  executors  of  justice. 
The  greatest  patrons  the  arts  ever  had  were 
the  merchant-princes  of  Florence  and  Ven- 
ice. In  comparison  with  what  an  age  of  hand 
labor  accomplished  in  the  cathedrals,  and 
with  what  sailing  caravels  did  in  the  discov- 
ery of  the  new  world,  what  can  not  a  great 
modern  corporation  accomplish  in  this  age 
of  power  and  accounting  and  quick  communi- 
cation and  easy  publicity, — if  it  is  led  by  men 
of  imagination?  The  industrial  functions 
now  carried  on  by  business  corporations  are 
astonishing  in  mass  and  variety.  What  these 
corporations  are  able  to  do,  in  the  sphere  of 
their   traditionally   conceived   interests,   re- 


274  BUSINESS   ADMINISTRATION 

veals  a  grasp  of  administrative  methods,  an 
accuracy  of  accounts  and  internal  reports, 
and  a  command  of  capital  resources,  which 
can  certainly  be  turned  to  account  in  many 
new  ways  in  enriching  the  lives  of  their 
members. 

A  great  department  store  is  able  to  oper- 
ate carpet  mills  in  India  and  lace  works  in 
Switzerland,  and  can,  without  confusion,  sell 
anything  from  a  paper  of  pins  to  the  furnish- 
ings of  a  house.  Is  it  not  powerful  enough 
to  be  a  big  brother  to  its  young  girl  em- 
ployees, protecting  them  in  their  distress, 
and  pursuing  their  enemies  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth? 

A  board  of  directors  which  can  under- 
standing^ manage  mines  and  railways  and 
stores  and  factories,  separated  by  hundreds 
of  miles,  can  certainly  find  the  point  of  dan- 
gerous fatigue  for  its  men,  can  consume 
smoke  and  injurious  gases,  and  can  rival  a 
German  State  with  its  benefit  funds.  Cannot 
such  administrators,  from  the  expert  knowl- 
edge of  their  staffs,  give  a  little  timely  ad- 
vice to  their  communities  on  architecture,  and 
domestic  sanitation,  and  city  planning  and 
government?  Can  they  not,  in  a  thousand 
ways,  so  multiply  the  uses  of  expert  talent 


IDEALS   OF   THE   ADMINISTRATOR  275 

and  accumulated  experience  and  nation-wide 
credit  as  to  transform  employment  with 
them,  for  the  common  man,  from  a  mere 
temporary  cash-nexus,  into  a  coveted  patent 
of  nobility  in  the  industrial  world? 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  50  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


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